'Future Grand Slam champion' Rafael Jodar's bid to replicate Rafael Nadal on French Open debut ends with Alexander Zverev loss

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Rafael Jodar's fairytale run at the French Open has come to an end with a quarter-final defeat to No. 2 seed and title favourite Alexander Zverev.

Watch as Jodar breaks Zverev in first set - 'He looks born for all of this'

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The 19-year-old Spaniard was hoping to live up to his title as the "new Rafa", by matching Rafael Nadal's feat of winning the Roland-Garros title on his tournament debut in 2005.

However, Zverev showed why he is widely-tipped to profit from Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic's early exits to take his maiden major title with an assured display, and a healthy 7-6(3) 6-1 6-3 win.

Jodar has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent months to end up seeded in Paris on his first appearance in the men's draw, and enjoyed victories over the likes of Alex Michelsen and Pablo Carreno Busta en route to making the quarter-finals.

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And TNT Sports expert Anne Keothavong has no doubt that this run is just the start of more major success for the teenager.

"Jodar is definitely a star in the making," Keothavong said. "His rapid rise up the rankings is no fluke. When you see a young player progress as quickly as he did up the rankings, producing the kind of tennis we witnessed, he's the real deal.

"I don't know how high his ceiling is, I think we are talking about a future Grand Slam champion."

Zverev 'had better legs' than tired Jodar - Experts react to quarter-final

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The early signs were positive for Jodar on Tuesday. After he and Zverev traded holds for 1-1, both staving off break points in a mammoth two games which lasted nearly 20 minutes, the youngster found his serve and established an advantage by breaking Zverev for a 4-2 lead.

However, when the pressure was on and the teenager was serving for a set lead, Zverev charged back to break to love, forcing a tie-break, won by the German after three critical mini-breaks.

Zverev took a strong hold on the match when he broke for 3-1 in the second set, and took another huge stride towards the semi-finals when he followed that up to establish a 5-1 lead, Jodar seemingly reeling from the substantial amount of tennis he had played to reach the final eight.

And there was little doubt the outcome of the match would be favourable for Zverev when he broke again, immediately in the third set, winning his seventh consecutive game to consolidate for a 2-0 lead.

Watch as 'favourite' for glory Zverev beats 'new Rafa' Jodar in straight sets to reach semis

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The world No. 3 fought off a Jodar break point while 4-3 ahead to take a valuable hold, and delivered the final blow by sealing a match-winning break with a thumping forehand line winner on the stretch.

With Jodar having come through five-set matches in the third and fourth rounds, TNT Sports expert Jim Courier felt that fatigue eventually scuppered the Spaniard.

"Zverev started off a little slowly, was down 2-5 in the opening set," Courier said. "And then he found his footing and what turned in, he had better legs than Rafael Jodar.

"Jodar played a lot of tennis, a couple of five-setters coming in and that started to wear on him. You don't want to play someone who has the discipline to stay in rallies, when you're not feeling the way Sascha Zverev does.

"Zverev is willing to play those long rallies and make you feel the pain, because he's one of the absolute fittest athletes around."

Keothavong, meanwhile, said it was as "professional a performance as you'd expect" from Zverev, and felt Jodar's extra time on-court and increased publicity off it finally "caught up with him".

'Tough test against a very good player' - Zverev reacts to beating Jodar in quarter-final

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"When you look at the amount of time both players needed to spend out there on the match court to make it to this match, Zverev was on court for four hours less than Jodar," Keothavong said.

"He [Zverev] has the experience, Jodar is playing in his first main draw at Roland-Garros. There's a lot for him to take in. Everything is still new.

"It's not just the on-court tennis, but the attention off-court, I think it finally caught up with him. For Zverev, he did what he needed to do.

"That forehand was as aggressive as we've seen this year. He's certainly trying to step it up. And that's the kind of tennis he needs to play if he wants to win."

Zverev will face either Joao Fonseca or Jakub Mensik in the semi-finals. They meet on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Tuesday's evening session.

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