Serena Williams and Meghan Markle have been friends since 2014, though they met in 2010.
Markle frequently supports Williams at tennis matches, while Williams threw Markle’s baby shower.
Williams was the first guest on Markle’s podcast, “Archetypes,” in August 2022.
They may be the greatest tennis player of all time and the first American to marry into the royal family in decades (and the first to leave in decades), but Serena Williams and Meghan Markle have remained loyal friends since their first real hang out in 2014.Since then, the two have became close confidantes, with Markle regularly attending Williams’ tennis matches, and Williams defending her friend from the mountain of negative attention she’s received since 2017.
After Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Williams took to Instagram to call her friend “truly noble.”
During the first episode of Markle’s podcast, she called Williams “my girl,” and discussed Williams’ career, her decision to step away from tennis, and shared a harrowing story about her royal tour in South Africa.
Keep scrolling to learn more about their sweet, yet private, friendship.February 2010: Williams and Markle meet at the Super Bowl in Miami.Markle wrote on her now-defunct blog The Tig that the two crossed paths for the first time in Miami during the 2010 Super Bowl. But it would take a few more years for their friendship to blossom.Markle, who was then starring on “Suits,” and Williams crossed paths again at the event, playing flag football together at a celebrity game.
“We hit it off immediately, taking pictures, laughing through the flag football game we were both playing in, and chatting not about tennis or acting, but about all the good old fashioned girlie stuff. So began our friendship,” Markle would write later on The Tig.
During an August 2022 episode of her podcast “Archetypes,” Markle again reiterated how quickly their friendship formed. “We became such fast friends,” she said. “We have a lot in common,” Williams responded.
September 2014: Markle congratulates Williams on Twitter for winning the US Open, and their friendship grows.
Markle and Wiliams hugging at the 2014 US Open. Twitter/@meghanmarkle
“She did it! @serenawilliams ! #bravo #friends #usopen,” Markle tweeted after Williams won the 2014 US Open. It’s since been deleted.
Markle shared more about their friendship on The Tig: “She quickly became a confidante I would text when I was traveling, the friend I would rally around for her tennis matches, and the down-to-earth chick I was able to grab lunch with just a couple weeks ago in Toronto.”
She added, “We are both the same age, have a penchant for hot sauces, and adore fashion, but what connects us more than those things is perhaps our belief in exceeding expectations — our endless ambition.”
“So happy for you @serenawilliams!! I was juuuust hugging you for your win at #usopen. Now @AustralianOpen! #onfire,” Markle tweeted alongside a photo of them hugging at the US Open.
September 2016: Markle posts a funny photo of the two at Fashion Week and congratulates Williams for her line.
“My eyes are closed but my heart is so open! So proud of your new collection @serenawilliams Happy I could be there to support you xx #NYFW,” Markle captioned the cute photo of the duo. It wouldn’t be the last time Markle supported Williams’ clothing.
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“She will be an amazing mom. The very best, because she is so attuned to balancing strength and sensitivity. Plus, given that she is pretty epic at karaoke, I think she’ll put her signature Serena spin on singing lullabies for the baby. I can’t wait for that,” Markle told Vogue for the September 2017 issue.er personality just shines,” Williams told Vanity Fair for a profile on Markle.
When Markle asked for advice on dealing with the pressures of fame and paparazzi, Williams said, “I told her, ‘You’ve got to be who you are, Meghan. You can’t hide.'”
May 2018: Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, attend the royal wedding.
For the entire year, Markle dealt with mounting pressure and backlash from the public and media, while Williams had to deal with a controversy surrounding her and tennis umpire, Carlos Ramos.
“We were actually just texting each other this morning,” Williams told the Sunday Project. “We have known each other for a long time, but we really are relying on each other a lot recently.”
The post Serena Williams was the first guest on Meghan Markle’s podcast — see inside their 8-year friendship appeared first on Hyamstech.
