Darwin Blanch is a 16-year-old up-and-coming star who is making rounds as he found his way into the main draw of the Miami Open, making it his first ATP Tour level tournament. While he lost, he is still in the limelight, as he bears a heavy resemblance to the American tennis star, Ben Shelton, who is now embracing the fact that he is leaving the girlfriend of Taylor Fritz in splits. 

Fans first noticed the resemblance of Blanch with Shelton when they saw him training with Holger Rune before the second half of Sunshine Doubles. The idea took off quickly, and now, Shelton has approved it himself.

Ben Shelton leaves Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend hysterical

After Blanch’s loss in his debut Masters match, the Miami Open’s Instagram account shared a collage of the player with the caption “A bright future ahead ⭐️ 16-year-old @blanchdarwin made his ATP Tour debut today at the @miamiopen 👏”. Looking at the post, Shelton jumped in to comment, “Me 2.0“, which started a chain of several comments. The Miami Open page replied to Shelton, saying, “Twin, where have you been?“

Blanch also replied to Shelton, “Amount of times is crazy,” likely mentioning the number of times he has been mentioned as his doppelganger. Morgan Riddle, the girlfriend of Taylor Fritz, also replied to the post as she wrote, “😭💀.”

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Although Blanch lost the match with a score of 6-4, 6-2 against Tomas Machac, he gave a great performance, and tennis fans want to watch him play again. In addition to his tennis skills, his uncanny resemblance to Ben Shelton also helped him gain much fame.

The claims of the two having a resemblance first came in after a picture of Rune’s training session was shared on social media.

How the Shelton doppelganger narrative took form

Rune has had a good start to the year and is looking to make his 2024 stint even better by winning bigger titles. After being eliminated in the Indian Wells Masters in the quarterfinal, he practiced with Blanch, and the two clicked a picture together at the net. While the news was about Rune’s practice session, fans noticed how Blanch looked like Shelton.

One fan said that he looked like a mini Shelton. Some wondered if the two were related. One fan postulated that they could be related as he looked like a younger version of the American 22-year-old. Some believed that it was Shelton trying to pass off as someone else. Fans have accepted him as the doppelganger, and now Shelton has done the same. 

Who Is Darwin Blanch? The 16-Year-Old Ben Shelton Lookalike Touted by Serena Williams’ Ex-coach to End American Grand Slam Drought