Despite the excitement around the Rafael Nadal vs Darwin Blanch match at the Madrid Open 2024, there were no surprises in the result. Rafael Nadal beat Blanch 6-1, 6-0 to win his first match. But Novak Djokovic superfan Pavvy G has cast a gloomy shadow on Nadal’s victory. He has accused the Madrid Open of deliberately ‘fixing’ Nadal’s match against a weaker opponent. But an ATP Tour scribe, also a huge fan of Nadal, quickly put Pavvy G in his place.
Recently, Pavvy G shared a poll on his X, urging his followers to vote if they think Nadal’s match against ‘the lowest ranked player’ i.e. Blanch was ‘fixed’ or it was just ‘luck’ and coincidence. In his poll, the majority (69%) believe it was ‘fixed’, which let Pavvy G propagate his theory.
The current world ranking of Darwin Blanch is 1028, as opposed to Nadal’s 644. The American is yet to win an ATP Tour match, and in his first-ever Masters 1000 match at the Miami Open 2024, Tomas Machac beat him in straight sets. Although he is an exciting prospect, he was still the weakest of all opponents in the tournament. But just this one fixture doesn’t qualify Rafael Nadal’s journey in this tournament as easy or tough.
This was the point of contention of Fred Meyer, who also previously lambasted NoleFam members Pavvy G and Goatkovic. Fred Meyer simply put that if the draws were ‘fixed’, as Pavvy G believes, then why would Nadal’s next match be against Australian tennis star Alex de Minaur, who just beat Nadal?
Alex de Minaur beat Nadal 7-5, 6-1 in the Barcelona Open 2024 Round of 32 match. Moreover, Nadal is likely to face against Casper Ruud, Jannik Sinner, and Daniil Medvedev later in the tournament. All of them are top 10 players currently.
This argument sort of dismisses Pavvy G’s accusation completely. Several other fans rushed to support Fred Meyers’ take on the matter. So many even blamed Djokovic, just to be on the side of Nadal.
The Rafael Nadal vs Alex De Minaur Showdown – Twice in 2 Weeks
At the Madrid Open 2024, the Rafael Nadal vs Alex de Minaur match will take place tomorrow. This will be the second time they play each other in two weeks after Nadal lost to him in Barcelona. Nadal still leads the head-to-head 3-2 against de Minaur. The Spaniard won the first 3 encounters at the 2018 Wimbledon (61-, 6-2,6-4), the 2019 Australian Open (6-1, 6-2, 6-4), and the 2020 ATP Cup (4-6, 7-5, 6-1). Alex de Minaur won the next two times. He won at the 2023 United Cup (3-6, 6-1, 7-5), and then at the recent Barcelona Open.
The match will stream live on the Tennis Channel in the USA and Sky Sports in the UK. The timings aren’t out yet and the temperature is chilly enough in Madrid.
After beating Darwin Blanch, the ever-so-humble Rafael Nadal had this to say about his upcoming opponent Alex de Minaur:
“I would be totally surprised if I beat Alex de Minaur on Saturday. I hope I can give my best and be competitive against De Minaur,” said Nadal, as The Wide World of Sports reports.
Even though Alex de Minaur didn’t make a statement about Nadal ahead of the Madrid Open clash, his words after beating Nadal at the Barcelona Open are still fresh.
“Everybody was hoping that he would come back like when he was winning Roland Garros,” said de Minaur, as Stadium Astro reports.
