Serena Williams was left ‘heartbroken’ by the sight of a tearful teenager (Picture: Corbis via Getty)

On the day Serena Williams booked her spot in the third round of the French Open, another young American followed in her footsteps.

Seventeen-year-old Amanda Anisimova became the youngest American woman to reach the last-32 at Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 1998.

Anisimova took out 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-2, while Williams eased past Japanese qualifier Kurumi Nara 6-3 6-2 in just an hour and seven minutes on Philippe-Chatrier.

World No. 51 Anismiova is a known Maria Sharapova fan but was, inevitably, asked to give her opinion on her senior American counterpart.

‘Yeah, I mean, she’s done so much for the sport. She’s a huge inspiration to me. I really look up to her,’ she said. ‘That’s just great to be achieving stuff similar to her win, attention.

Anisimova is in impressive form (Picture: Getty Images)

She later added: ‘When I had a tough loss at Miami Open, it was a really long match and I was super upset in the locker room, Serena actually came up to me and we shared a little bit of a chat. That was really nice of her, and I’ll remember it forever.’

Following her own victory later on Thursday afternoon, Williams was quizzed on how that conversation came about and she confessed to being ‘heartbroken’ by the sight of a devastated youngster.

‘She’s a good girl, and I really take to all the young girls out there that are doing well,’ Williams said.

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‘I was heartbroken when she walked into that locker room, and I wanted to be there for her, because I have been there. And it’s an interesting position, because it’s just like no one ever says anything, even though I feel like a lot of people want to.

‘I just decided, I’m not gonna do that anymore. I’ve always wanted to. I’m just gonna go for it now and do what my emotions want me to do and not do the “professional thing,” because maybe that’s not professional. I just got to do what I feel and act how I feel.’

Williams was less forthcoming when asked to discuss the picture of her in a wheelchair spread around social media just a few days before the tournament’s beginning.

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‘I’m not going to get into that,’ she said. ‘I’m playing, and all’s good.’

Meanwhile, there are no French Open women left in the draw of their home Slam after Caroline Garcia lost her second-round match to Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova.