Jodar latest Spanish gem to sparkle in French Open's post-Nadal era

PARIS, May 25 : Carlos Alcaraz may have established himself as the "Prince of Clay" with successive French Open titles in the post-Rafa Nadal era at Roland Garros but the defending champion's absence this year has allowed another young Spaniard to grab the spotlight.

Away from Court Philippe Chatrier, where record 14-times champion Nadal forged his French Open legacy, 19-year-old Rafael Jodar quietly began carving his own path on Monday with a 6-1 6-0 6-4 first-round win over Aleksandar Kovacevic.

Like his idol Nadal did for the best part of two decades on the red dirt of Paris, Jodar showed no mercy to his opponent and backed up the growing hype around him after an impressive clay season in the build-up to the year's second Grand Slam.

"I think I did things well from the start and I'm super happy to get my first win in Paris," Jodar told reporters of the 94-minute workout on his Roland Garros main draw debut.

"First matches are always difficult in the tournament. So I had to serve very well. I tried to play my game during the first two sets, and even when the things got a little bit trickier in the third set and I had to face break points, I played well.

"When you're playing a five-sets match, everything can go up and down. You just have to face it the best way possible."

Ranked 903 a little more than a year ago, Jodar entered the top 50 last month after he bagged his first ATP title in Morocco and then made the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open. He followed that up with back-to-back quarter-finals in Madrid and Rome.

Those results lifted the energetic and aggressive Spaniard to number 29 in the world, but Jodar said he was not in a rush to place lofty expectations on himself.

"I still have to learn a lot of things in the