No less than 21 years and 117 days separate the two players. According to “Jeu, Set et Maths”, a statistics specialist, this is the largest age difference between two opponents in an ATP 1000. Quite far ahead of the 19 years and 204 days of the match between Frenchman Richard Gasquet to the Spaniard Martin Landaluce, already in Madrid last season.
One figure alone sums up the situation: the 37-year-old Spaniard already had three successes at Roland Garros when the American was born. Here are five things to know about one of the biggest promises in world tennis.
He trains at Juan Carlos Ferrero's academy
Under the supervision of Francisco Penalva, Darwin Blanch trains at the Juan Carlos Ferrero academy in Alicante. The opportunity to meet a certain… Carlos Alcaraz, the protégé of the former Spanish player. The current 3rd in the world also mentioned the young 16-year-old player this Tuesday. “I trained with him several times” he declares in comments taken up by the official ATP website. “I know he has good tennis. He plays very well for his age. I told him to enjoy the moment (Editor’s note: against Nadal). This will really help his career. How important it was for mine, when I faced Nadal in 2021 for the first time. I learned a lot from this match.”
Two brothers and a sister tennis players
Darwin Blanch is the youngest of four children, including Ulises (26 years old), Dali (21 years old) and Krystal (19 years old). They all bit into the little yellow ball from a very young age. The first two mentioned are ranked 484th and 622nd in the world respectively, the latter playing in the Wake Forest university team in Winston-Salem (North Carolina).
Their dad, Ernesto, worked for Coca-Cola. What constrained the family regularly moved as the patriarch moved. First in Thailand, where Darwin unleashed his first blows. Then, in Argentina, the United States and finally in Spain.
Djokovic is truly a fighter on the court.
Ninth in the world among juniors at the end of 2023
Born September 28, 2007 in Boca Raton (Florida), Darwin Blanch is a phenomenon of precocity. So, Eurosport tells us that the American earned his first ATP point at the age of 14 years and 4 months. This is respectively three and five months earlier than the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (ATP 35) and the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
Last season, aged just 15, he reached the final four of the Roland-Garros and Wimbledon junior tournaments. Its performances and consistency allow it to finish the year 2023 in 9th place in the category, before reaching 4th place at the start of 2024.
Twin of Shelton and fan of Djokovic
Already measuring 1.90 m, the two-handed backhand left-hander has physical traits in common with the American Ben Shelton. So much so that, according to the Spanish daily Marca, fans mistake him for him during tournaments. But it was Novak Djokovic (ATP 1) who Darwin Blanch fell under the spell of. “He eats healthy, he respects all his opponents and he is truly a fighter on the court”he emphasizes in a video shot by his sponsor Wilson.
The same agent as Bergs
If Darwin Blanch entered the main draw of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, he owes it to an invitation awarded by the organizers. Logical, when we learn that the owner of the tournament is called IMG. The company, very active in the world of sport, defends the interests of the American player through Juan Acuna. The Mexican agent is the representative of the Belgian Zizou Bergs (ATP 103), who also benefited from a wild card.
At the end of March, Darwin Blanch had already had the opportunity to play the first round of the Masters 1000 in Miami (defeat 6-6, 6-2 in front of the Czech Tomas Machac). And guess who owns the tournament…
Zizou Bergs' father gets up at night to watch his son: “I haven't missed a match in three years”
