By . Mike Dawes . Rafael Nadal sensed a changing of the guard despite giving Dominic Thiem a clay-court lesson in their second-round clash at the French Open. Twenty-year-old Austrian Thiem is one of the brightest talents in the men's game but he will know just how far he still has to go after a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 loss on Court Philippe Chatrier. Despite the ease of his victory, Nadal was hugely impressed by Thiem and said: 'I think that our generation is now on the way out. All smiles: Rafael Nadal celebrates a place in the third round of the French Open . Too good: The eight-time champion brushed aside his Austrian opponent in straight sets in Paris . '(Andy) Murray, (Novak) Djokovic, (David) Ferrer, and (Tomas) Berdych and . others, (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga, as well, we have been here for a long . while. 'A generation is walking away and others will replace us. It will not come overnight, but it will come. 'I . think that this player has a huge potential and could be one of the . ones who's going to replace us. His tennis style is really good. What he . could work on is his footwork and how he moves on the court. That's . all.' Thiem really set tongues wagging earlier this month when he beat Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in Madrid. That made him the youngest man to beat a top-three player since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009. Blip: Nadal fell a break behind in the third set but came roaring back to complete a straight sets win . Fist pump: The Spaniard celebrates his brisk victory on Court Philippe Chatrier . The . Austrian, who shares a coach with Ernests Gulbis, is determined to . learn from his experience, saying: 'It was a great feeling to play on . this court. 'I expected it, everything that came after. I knew that it's going to be the biggest challenge in my tennis career. 'It's . really important to play against these guys a lot, because it's more . important than every practice, I think. I hope I can take a lot with me . from this match.' Nadal's . only defeat at Roland Garros since he won the title on his debut in . 2005 came against Robin Soderling in 2009 and he is bidding to become . the first man to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires five times in a row. But the Spaniard's build-up, with losses in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, put his status as favourite very much in question. Thiem . said with a smile: 'I think everybody wants this crisis, which . everybody says he has. I think there are only a few players who can hurt . him in this tournament.' Tricky: The 20-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem gave Nadal all he had but was outclassed . Nadal . has been open about the doubts that have crept into his mind since his . Australian Open final loss to Wawrinka but he gave himself high marks . for Thursday's performance. The Spaniard said: 'I think it was a dangerous match. I played the way that I would like to play.' Fourth . seed David Ferrer, who lost his first grand slam final to Nadal 12 . months ago, eased through with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italy's . Simone Bolelli. There . was also an impressive victory for American Donald Young, who had never . won a match at Roland Garros before this year but knocked out 26th seed . Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. The . 24-year-old hails from Chicago like 18-year-old Taylor Townsend, who at . her first grand slam posted one of the stand-out wins of Wednesday . against 20th seed Alize Cornet. Rolling on: Spain's David Ferrer plays a forehand during his straight-sets victory over Italy's Simone Bolelli . Reversing the slide: American Donald Young picked up his second win at Roland Garros against Feliciano Lopez . Young . said: 'I have known her since she was born. Her and her sisters, it's . more like a brother/sister type thing than friends because I have known . them forever. 'I've . seen her grow up and it's great to see her playing well and winning . matches. And to be at this level, it's awesome. I'm really excited for . her.' Young . next plays Wawrinka's conqueror Guillermo Garcia-Lopez while there were . also wins for French duo Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils, the latter . now preparing to meet fellow crowd-pleaser Fabio Fognini. On form: Home hope Gael Monfils celebrates his victory in three sets over German Jan-Lennard Struff . Meanwhile, . there will be a clash of the giants between 6ft 11in Ivo Karlovic, who . is playing the best clay-court tennis of his life aged 35, and 6ft 8in . Kevin Anderson. In . Friday's third-round matches, second seed Novak Djokovic has a . potentially tricky clash against Marin Cilic while Roger Federer meets . Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
Nadal booked his place in the last 32 at Roland Garros in straight sets .
The World No 1 thinks that his generations 'is now on the way out'
No 4 seed David Ferrer is through to the third round .
Donald Young, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils also won .
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer play their third-round matches on Friday .
By . Mike Dawes . Rafael Nadal sensed a changing of the guard despite giving Dominic Thiem a clay-court lesson in their second-round clash at the French Open. Twenty-year-old Austrian Thiem is one of the brightest talents in the men's game but he will know just how far he still has to go after a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 loss on Court Philippe Chatrier. Despite the ease of his victory, Nadal was hugely impressed by Thiem and said: 'I think that our generation is now on the way out. All smiles: Rafael Nadal celebrates a place in the third round of the French Open . Too good: The eight-time champion brushed aside his Austrian opponent in straight sets in Paris . '(Andy) Murray, (Novak) Djokovic, (David) Ferrer, and (Tomas) Berdych and . others, (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga, as well, we have been here for a long . while. 'A generation is walking away and others will replace us. It will not come overnight, but it will come. 'I . think that this player has a huge potential and could be one of the . ones who's going to replace us. His tennis style is really good. What he . could work on is his footwork and how he moves on the court. That's . all.' Thiem really set tongues wagging earlier this month when he beat Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in Madrid. That made him the youngest man to beat a top-three player since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009. Blip: Nadal fell a break behind in the third set but came roaring back to complete a straight sets win . Fist pump: The Spaniard celebrates his brisk victory on Court Philippe Chatrier . The . Austrian, who shares a coach with Ernests Gulbis, is determined to . learn from his experience, saying: 'It was a great feeling to play on . this court. 'I expected it, everything that came after. I knew that it's going to be the biggest challenge in my tennis career. 'It's . really important to play against these guys a lot, because it's more . important than every practice, I think. I hope I can take a lot with me . from this match.' Nadal's . only defeat at Roland Garros since he won the title on his debut in . 2005 came against Robin Soderling in 2009 and he is bidding to become . the first man to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires five times in a row. But the Spaniard's build-up, with losses in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, put his status as favourite very much in question. Thiem . said with a smile: 'I think everybody wants this crisis, which . everybody says he has. I think there are only a few players who can hurt . him in this tournament.' Tricky: The 20-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem gave Nadal all he had but was outclassed . Nadal . has been open about the doubts that have crept into his mind since his . Australian Open final loss to Wawrinka but he gave himself high marks . for Thursday's performance. The Spaniard said: 'I think it was a dangerous match. I played the way that I would like to play.' Fourth . seed David Ferrer, who lost his first grand slam final to Nadal 12 . months ago, eased through with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Italy's . Simone Bolelli. There . was also an impressive victory for American Donald Young, who had never . won a match at Roland Garros before this year but knocked out 26th seed . Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3. The . 24-year-old hails from Chicago like 18-year-old Taylor Townsend, who at . her first grand slam posted one of the stand-out wins of Wednesday . against 20th seed Alize Cornet. Rolling on: Spain's David Ferrer plays a forehand during his straight-sets victory over Italy's Simone Bolelli . Reversing the slide: American Donald Young picked up his second win at Roland Garros against Feliciano Lopez . Young . said: 'I have known her since she was born. Her and her sisters, it's . more like a brother/sister type thing than friends because I have known . them forever. 'I've . seen her grow up and it's great to see her playing well and winning . matches. And to be at this level, it's awesome. I'm really excited for . her.' Young . next plays Wawrinka's conqueror Guillermo Garcia-Lopez while there were . also wins for French duo Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils, the latter . now preparing to meet fellow crowd-pleaser Fabio Fognini. On form: Home hope Gael Monfils celebrates his victory in three sets over German Jan-Lennard Struff . Meanwhile, . there will be a clash of the giants between 6ft 11in Ivo Karlovic, who . is playing the best clay-court tennis of his life aged 35, and 6ft 8in . Kevin Anderson. In . Friday's third-round matches, second seed Novak Djokovic has a . potentially tricky clash against Marin Cilic while Roger Federer meets . Russian Dmitry Tursunov.
that our generation is now on the way out. All smiles: Rafael Nadal celebrates a place in the third round of the French Open . Too good: The opponent in straight sets in Paris . '(Andy) like to play.' Fourth . seed David Ferrer, who Donald Young picked up his second win at Roland . also wins for French duo Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils, the latter . now preparing to meet matches, second seed Novak Djokovic has a . while Roger Federer meets . Russian Dmitry