Thiem the early leader for next-generation supremacy

9:43 AM ET

PARIS — A zebra-fest, more appropriate for the Serengeti, broke out Saturday on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Adidas, the German sports apparel giant, has hedged its bets on the next generation, paying dearly to outfit both Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev in those grisly black and white stripes. Both are former junior singles finalists here, and seen as future top-10 players.

On the day after Rafael Nadal checked out of the Roland Garros hotel, a venue that was already absent his famous foil, Roger Federer, it was appropriate that some of the best and the brightest of their would-be successors were on display.

Dominic Thiem already has six ATP titles to his credit. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Thiem, a 22-year-old Austrian, and Zverev, a 19-year-old German, are two of eight 22-and-under players ranked among the ATP World Tour’s top 200. The others: Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, 21, Borna Coric of Croatia, 19, American Taylor Fritz, 18, Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, 21, Korea’s Hyeon Chung, 20, and Quentin Halys, 19, of France.

Thiem, Zverev, Kyrgios and Coric all made it to third round here, while Edmund and Halys each qualified their way into the main draw and won a first-round match. Kyrgios fell to Richard Gasquet on Friday, but Thiem steamed into the fourth round with an emphatic 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Zverev on Saturday.

Thiem was likely to have played Nadal, the nine-time French Open champion, but after the 14-time Grand Slam …

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