Coric and Halys win battle of next generation kids

PARIS (Reuters) - Four of the hottest prospects in the men's game clashed at the French Open on Tuesday with Croatian trailblazer Borna Coric and French teenager Quentin Halys reaching the second round. Nineteen-year-old Coric, already a seasoned Tour professional ranked 47 in the world, had the unusual experience of playing someone younger than himself in American 18-year-old Taylor Fritz. And he made his 'experience' count. While Fritz has the more powerful game and has risen from 821 to 67 in the rankings in a year, he is a novice on the European clay and was no match for Coric, losing 6-3 6-1 6-3. Halys, 19, was one of five Frenchmen to progress on Tuesday, beating South Korea's 20-year-old Chung Hyeon 6-1 6-4 6-4. Already tipped as a future French number one, Halys preferred just to concentrate on his second round against tough Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas. "I can't just say this is going to happen (become number one)," he said. "It would be ridiculous. There are so many other things I need to do. It's still very far." Coric faces Australian 20th seed Bernard Tomic in round two. (Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)