Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar said his run to the French Open quarter-finals had confirmed he can compete with the sport’s leading players, despite seeing his campaign end with a straight sets defeat to Alexander Zverev in Paris on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old was beaten by the German second seed in his first appearance at Roland Garros, but said the tournament had provided valuable lessons about the standards required to challenge consistently at the highest level.

“If you want to compete against the best players in the world, you have to keep your level all the time the same,” Jodar told reporters after the match.

“You cannot have a lot of downs during the matches, especially when you are playing a five-set match.”

Jodar emerged as one of the standout stories of this year’s tournament, reaching the last eight alongside Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca and underlining the growing influence of a new generation of players on the ATP Tour.

Reflecting on his performances in Paris, Jodar said the experience had strengthened his confidence.

“What I learned about me is that I can compete against anyone,” he said.

“But I still have to improve a lot of things that these matches will help me to improve.”

The decisive moment of Tuesday’s contest came in the opening set. Jodar was unable to capitalise on an opportunity to serve for the set before Zverev recovered to force a tiebreak and seize control of the match.

“He played better than me in those points,” Jodar said. “He deserved to win the first set and then the next two.”

Despite the defeat, the Spaniard said his first French Open campaign had provided significant experience which he hopes to build on in future Grand Slam events.

“A lot of experience in this first French Open for me,” he said. “I take all the matches that I’ve played, and this gives me a lot of learning to keep improving.”

Zverev, who remains in contention for a first Grand Slam title, praised the impact made by younger players during the tournament and said their emergence was encouraging for the future of men’s tennis.

“We have a great group of young players that are playing fantastic tennis,” the German said.

“We have fantastic players that are young on the tour right now. We have a lot of potential on the tour right now.”

Jodar’s quarter-final run marks the deepest Grand Slam performance of his career to date.