"Rafael Nadal's not top 10; He's 800" - Andy Roddick pushes for 16-year-old American Darwin Blanch to be fueled by Spaniard's state in Madrid Open 1R

Andy Roddick recently advocated for 16-year-old American Darwin Blanch to be fueled by Rafael Nadal's current form, ahead of their first-round match at the 2024 Madrid Open.

Nadal will go up against wildcard Blanch in his opening match at the Madrid Open. The Spaniard has won this tournament a record five times, with his last title coming in 2017. On the other hand, Blanch made his ATP Tour debut as a wildcard at the Miami Open, where he faced Tomas Machac in the first round and was defeated 6-4, 6-2.

In a recent episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, Roddick discussed how Blanch's coach, Fran Penalva, can motivate him ahead of his match against Nadal.

Roddick suggested that the coach should remind Darwin Blanch to respect Nadal's accomplishments while also recognizing that the Spaniard is not currently at his peak physically or in terms of ranking.

"If I'm his [Darwin Blanch's] coach, I'm saying, 'Listen all the respect in the world. You can give credit to this guy, and also, he's not—I don't know that this is true on clay; time will tell—he's not a top 10 player in the world at this moment. Like he's a guy who is ranked 800 in the world,' and I would be feeding him [Blanch] this narrative even if I didn't believe it myself," he said (at 37:51).

Andy Roddick stated that it was important to instill optimism in Darwin Blanch and encourage him to give his best effort in attempting to secure a victory over the 22-time Grand Slam champion at the Madrid Open.

"If you get off to a hot start, he's been compromised; he's not serving full out yet. I would be saying all of these things for confidence. Now we still have to respect it, we still have to game plan, and we still have to do all these things. But I would be trying to find sources of optimism for this matchup," he added (at 38:16).

Roddick also noted that Blanch is developing the physical attributes necessary to succeed as a good tennis player.

"The kid is a lefty; he's 6'4"; he looks like a mini [Ben] Shelton. He's got a cool vibe, big serve, lefty, and played in Miami. You can tell that movement isn't going to be there for a little while when his feet start making sense because he's still growing," Roddick said (at 38:35).

The 41-year-old also talked about Blanch being fortunate enough to get the opportunity to compete against Rafael Nadal, who is nearing the end of his illustrious career.

"Like you can look at him, and he's obviously not Rafa when Rafa was 17, who looked like he could bench press dump trucks. He's not that guy yet, but this is cool. This is the type of thing like, how fortunate is he if Rafa has three tournaments left or four. If he doesn't have that many tournaments left to be able to say, 'I played Rafa.' So cool. I hope he enjoys it," he added.

Darwin Blanch on facing Rafael Nadal: “I'm really excited, obviously a little bit nervous”

Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open

Ahead of his match against Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Madrid Open, 16-year-old Darwin Blanch expressed a mix of excitement and nerves at the prospect of facing the seasoned Spaniard.

“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,” Blanch said [via ATPTour.com].

Blanch stated that he knows that the majority of the crowd will likely be rooting for Nadal, but that he is focused on savoring every moment of the match.

Darwin Blanch revealed that his recent experience of playing at the 2024 Miami Open has prepared him for playing in front of large audiences and has helped him to feel more at ease despite the pressure.

“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,” he added.