Nadal crushes neophyte in solid Spanish start

Rafael Nadal made a flying 6-1, 6-0 start on Thursday at his home Madrid Masters and he dispatched an American teenager playing just his second match at the ATP level.

The five-time Madrid champion took barely an hour to school 16-year-old wild card Darwin Blanch and set up a second round contest with Alex de Minaur.

The Australian defeated Nadal last week on the clay of Barcelona in the second round.

Nadal gave away more than two decades t – a record 21 years, 117 days – to his young opponent ranked outside the Top 500.

“Today I played an opponent with a great future,” the 22-time Grand Slam champion said.

“But he is young and made mistakes, so I was there. I tried to b solid and not take a lot of risks.

“I’m happy to be through, things worked out well.”

Nadal took advantage of nearly 30 unforced errors from Blanch while ending with nine winners and nine unforced errors; he broke five times from nine chances.

The veteran won his 57th match here as he plays for the 20th time; he stands 19-1 in opening Madrid matches,losing only to Alex Corretja in the 2003 first round at his tournament debut.

Nadal was playing only his sixth match of the season after months of injury recovery.

“After the ways things developed over the last few years (injuries), every time I get a chance to be on court means a lot to me,” he said

“I try to enjoy every moment.”