Darwin Blanch has been the talk of the town for quite some time across the USA, not only because of his impressive performances at the junior level but also because of his strikingly similar looks to another American player in Ben Shelton.
The 16-year-old recently took part in the Madrid Open where he was knocked out after losing to legendary tennis star and the former world number one Rafael Nadal, in a match where he only won one game.
And Andy Roddick, in a recent episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, highlighted that he feels Blanch has committed a mistake while playing at an event like the Madrid Open at such a young age.
He feels that Blanch needed to gain far more experience at lower levels before taking the step up to face one of the most decorated players of all time.
Andy Roddick highlights the wrong move made by Darwin Blanch
“Young player Darwin Blanch, I don’t know what our expectation set is but he goes out on plays Rafa and loses 1 and 0,” he said. “At 16 years old, my opinion is that there are steps that you can’t skip. You need to go juniors, where he’s been successful, challengers, then futures. I tend to blame a team that is guiding him.
“You put him in a situation where it’s a little untenable, he’s not ready to go on a run in Madrid. Physically he’s 6ft 4, but has that draft thing, where you know he’s going to be a monster but is still a little dangly.”
He continued: “So he goes out there, and is that experience good? I understand they probably negotiated these wild cards way back when, when he turned pro, so it’s tough to say you can’t have one now and the agents kind of stuck. But going in I was excited, but when I watched it I was like I don’t know if this is productive.”
Darwin Blanch – one for the future?
Seeing young players shine in any sport is exciting for the fans but developing such talented players is a difficult task.
Proper guidance can turn a potential superstar into a world-beater, whereas wrong decisions at an early age can result in disastrous consequences.
Roddick, who himself was one of the brightest American talent and won his only Grand Slam at the age of just 21, has plenty of experience of being a young prodigy and the dangers which can follow.
Roddick clearly cares for Blanch’s future, as he also had some advice for him before the match, where he guided the youngster over how to deal with the nerves of facing a player of Nadal’s standing.
Looking at his overall record at the junior level, Blanch seems to have all the talent in the world to make it big at the highest level. But only time will tell whether he will be able to make in the men’s game.
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