Meet the new Rafa planning to conquer Roland Garros

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Spanish players have won 18 French Open men's titles in the past 24 years - after victories for Rafael Nadal (14), Carlos Alcaraz (2), Alberto Costa and Juan Carlos Ferrero

Another formative experience was competing at the ATP Next Gen Finals - for the world's best players aged under 20 - before he decided to forfeit his college status to turn professional.

"It was a great year for me. I learned a lot. I played a lot of matches, and I develop a lot as a tennis player and as a person," Jodar said.

The focus has sharpened since fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz announced a wrist injury had put paid to his hopes of winning a third straight French Open title.

The first sign of Jodar's ability on the clay came when he reached the Barcelona semi-finals.

He further showcased his explosive baseline game to reach the Madrid Open quarter-finals - where the home fans instantly took him to their hearts - and then the last eight at the Italian Open.

Those runs led to some prescient analysis from Toni Nadal, who famously coached his nephew Rafa to 16 of his major titles.

"In a very short period of time [Jodar] has become, in my opinion, the best player of this new generation and the one with the greatest potential," Toni Nadal wrote in his column for Spanish newspaper El Pais.

"I believe that in a few years - and I'm almost certainly wrong, it will be a few months - Rafa will become one of the best tennis players in the world."

Going into the French Open, Jodar was considered by some bookmakers to be fourth favourite.

That seemed fanciful, but their confidence has proved well-placed.

After starting with a routine win over American Aleksandar Kovacevic, Jodar needed four sets to beat Australia's James Duckworth - although his progress has become increasingly complicated.

Jodar won the first set against American Alex Michelsen but still had to come through in five sets, then fought back from two sets down against Carreno Busta.

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Jodar, along with Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca and 20-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik, is part of a new generation taking this year's French Open men's event by storm

One of Jodar's greatest strengths is remaining dispassionate when the ball is in play, although tension can spill over between points.

Jodar regularly remonstrates with his father, who still coaches him, and one of those occasions against Michelsen led to an accusation he had pushed a ball girl.

A strong denial came, with the defence that the girl tripped over a court cover - which another angle later seemed to indicate was correct.

He quickly put the controversy behind him against Carreno Busta as his tennis became the talking point again.

The gutsy victory means he has won 19 clay-court matches this year - more than any other player on the ATP Tour.

Can Jodar win three more matches at Roland Garros and go all the way?

Jodar does not feel "in a rush" to achieve great things, but has little intention of slowing down in Paris.

"I will go with the belief - as I have done in all my matches - that if I do the things well, I can take the win," he said.

If Jodar can topple second seed Zverev - now the title favourite in an exciting tournament blown wide open - he will edge closer to becoming the first teenage man to win since 2005.

The last one? Jodar's most famous namesake.