A clash of generations headlines the Madrid Open first-round match this Thursday, featuring the 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal against American wild card Darwin Blanch.

Rafa, a five-time champion at the Masters tournament, faces off against his 16-year-old opponent who has only competed in one ATP Tour match thus far. Blanch comes into his second Masters 1000 appearance ranked No. 1,028 in the world.

Date: April 25, 2024

Match time: 5 PM local time / 10 AM EDT – New York, Montreal / 4 PM BST – United Kingdom / 5 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy, 5 PM SAST – South Africa / 8:30 PM IST – New Delhi / 1 AM AEST – Melbourne.  To convert to your local time, use this website.

This marks Rafa’s third official tournament of the season and his second appearance in the clay-court swing. Our champion made his comeback from a three-month absence just last week in Barcelona, where he overcame Flavio Cobolli before falling to Alex de Minaur.

Darwin on playing Rafa:

“I’m really excited, obviously a little bit nervous. But I’m just really happy to be playing against Rafa. I’m ready to go out and just enjoy every moment. I know there’s going to be a lot of people and they’re going to be against me. Obviously, Miami helped me [get used to the big stage] a bit, but it’s always been a thing that I’ve liked playing with a crowd and I’ve always enjoyed that.”

GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!