Dominic Thiem put himself in pole position to take advantage of Rafael Nadal's withdrawal by winning the battle of the young guns against Alexander Zverev.
With both Roger Federer and now Nadal forced out of the French Open through injury, thoughts will inevitably turn to the next generation and who can take over the mantle.
At the head of that queue at the moment is 22-year-old Austrian Thiem, who has already won three ATP Tour titles this season and boasts wins over both Nadal and Federer.
Ranked 15th, Thiem is on a seven-match winning streak having lifted the trophy at the Nice Open last weekend and has won more matches on clay this season than any other player.
In the final in Nice he defeated 19-year-old German Zverev, and it was the same story again here, although Thiem had to battle from a set down to win 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 6-3 6-3.
Zverev has been the breakthrough player of the season and, at 41st in the rankings, is the world's leading teenager.
Thiem said: " I knew already before the match that it's going be a very tough one. He's such a great player. I think the little difference today was probably the three years' age difference."
The Austrian was ranked outside the top 100 a little over two years ago, but his rapid rise is showing no signs of slowing down.
He said of his improvement: "I think the biggest part is the physical part. I think physically I belong at the top, which was not like the last years. Especially in the grand slams, it's really important.
"I think the ranking doesn't lie. So for sure I feel that I belong there. But still I'm missing a really big result, a big tournament. I hope it's going to happen soon."
Thiem would have expected to face Nadal, but instead will meet another Spaniard, Marcel Granollers, who was given a walkover following Nadal's withdrawal because of a wrist injury.
Thiem lost 6-2 6-2 6-3 to Nadal here two years ago and, asked if he was disappointed not to get a crack at the nine-time champion, said: " I already had this experience. It's not such a nice one.
"It has of course good sides to play Granollers, but also bad sides. Against Rafa, I'm the underdog. Against Granollers, I'm probably the favourite."
At the other end of the age scale, 11th seed David Ferrer beat fellow 34-year-old Feliciano Lopez 6-4 7-6 (8/6) 6-1.
Source: PA
