American prodigy Darwin Blanch shocked the tennis world when he didn’t participate in the 2024 US Open. However, the reason for his absence has been revealed. It came to light that his coach, Rick Macci, advised him to skip the last slam of the year.
A product of the Rick Macci Tennis Academy, Blanch first caught the eyes of fans when he faced none other than the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, in the opening round of the Madrid Open this year. His appearance at the Madrid court was enough for people to predict he would be a future champion.
However, much against everybody’s expectations, he decided to withdraw from the last grand slam of the year. The Rick Macci Academy posted a video on its social media to inform people of the reason behind the decision.
His team, headed by coach Macci, felt that the youngster needed to focus on improving his game rather than making appearances at such major stages so soon. The decision was taken in the best interest of the youngster to avoid ‘burnout’ and exhaustion. The video stated-
“Despite his immense talent and potential, Blanch is still young and is developing his game. His team decided that focusing on long-term growth and avoiding burnout was more important than immediate competition. Blanch’s powerful serve and mature mindset are exceptional for his age.“
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The video also stressed Blanch‘s huge potential to be a grand slam champion in the near future. It stated that the 17-year-old’s serve and forehand are currently the best on the tour, and capitalizing on this can give him an edge over his opponents.
Blanch has earned a total of $56,033 as prize money so far in his career. Having played only 2 matches on the tour yet, the American lost both of them and has a career-high ranking (also his current ranking) of 903.
But it is important to note that he has just started his professional tennis career and his style of playing has made people have huge expectations from him.
Additionally, considering that he has been training with Macci since the age of 5, he is expected to become a great player given the coach’s track record.
Macci has worked with legendary players like Andy Roddick, Serena & Venus Williams, and Maria Sharapova. Hence, it won’t be a surprise if he produces another legend.
