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• Nadal cruises past teen Blanch to tee up De Minaur rematch in Madrid

  Darwin Blanch presented little challenge for Rafael Nadal, who dropped just one game in a convincing 6-1 6-0 triumph at the Madrid Open.

  Nadal is feeling his way back to fitness, but 16-year-old qualifier Blanch offered little resistance to the 22-time major champion on Thursday.

  Making his farewell appearance at the Madrid Open, where he has won five titles, Nadal needed just 64 minutes to progress to round two.

  "I think today I played against an opponent with a great future in front [of him], but today, still making mistakes," said Nadal.

  "I just tried to be there, be solid all the time without taking a lot of risks. It worked well. I'm happy to be through and I wish him all the very best for the future."

  Nadal's reward is a rematch with Alex de Minaur, who he lost to last week in Barcelona.

  Data Debrief

  This game saw the largest age gap (21 years, 117 days) between two opponents in the history of ATP Masters 1000 events.

  Nadal has now registered 57 wins at the Madrid Open, which is 20 clear of any other player. 

• Osaka eliminated by Samsonova in Madrid

  Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Liudmila Samsonova after an entertaining second-round battle on Thursday.

  Having won her first match on clay for two years against Greet Minnen a day earlier, Osaka was able to force a final set against 15th seed Samsonova but ultimately fell to defeat.

  Samsonova won a close encounter 6-2 4-6 7-5 to book a clash with American Madison Keys – who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets – in the next round.

  Osaka had beaten Samsonova at Indian Wells last month and came close to securing another victory as she recovered well from losing the opening set.

  But the Japanese star was broken to fall 5-6 behind in the final set, and the Russian made no mistake in ruthlessly closing out the victory.

  Data Debrief: Samsonova ends losing streak

  This was a crucial win for Samsonova, who came into the match having lost four consecutive contests, including that Indian Wells defeat to Osaka on March 9.

  Samsonova did apply plenty of pressure in the final set – forcing five break points compared to just one for Osaka – and was ultimately rewarded in the closing stages of a contest that lasted two hours and 22 minutes.

• Azarenka makes history with 200th WTA 1000 win

  Victoria Azarenka made light work of progressing into the round of 32 at the Madrid Open and she made history in the progress.

  Azarenka, a two-time finalist in Madrid, despatched Tatjana Maria 6-3 6-1 on Thursday.

  It brought up her 200th victory at WTA 1000 events, which makes her the first woman to hit that milestone since the format was introduced in 2009.

  The former world number one needed just 81 minutes on court to get the job done, and will face Sara Sorribes Tormo in the next round.

  Data Debrief

  This was Azarenka's first meeting with Maria, and her service game was excellent, with the Belarusian winning 63.2 per cent of her first-serve points. She also saved five break points, having offered up seven, and converted six going the other way.

  Azarenka, who has won 10 WTA 1000 events, is 14 clear of next-best Simona Halep (186) on the list of women with the most WTA 1000 match wins.