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.”

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.

February 2014: They become friends while playing in the DirecTV Beach Bowl.

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.

September 2014: Markle congratulates Williams on Twitter for winning the US Open, and their friendship grows.

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.”

January 2015: Markle once again congratulates Williams on winning, this time the Australian Open.

“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.

Roger Federer has opened up about retirement on the eve of his long-awaited return to the ATP tour.

The 39-year-old, who has needed two operations to correct a long-standing knee issue, returns to action in Qatar this week – his first tournament since the 2020 Australian Open.

In a positive mood as he addressed a press conference, the 20-time grand slam champion reckons retirement is not on the cards and he’s adamant that one of sport’s great stories is not completed yet.

“I just feel like the story is not over,” Federer said on Sunday as he looked forward to his comeback tournament at the Qatar Open.

The Swiss legend accepted that he is still a work in progress but added that he hoped to be “100 per cent” by the time Wimbledon came around.

“I’m very happy to be back playing a tournament again. It’s been a long time. I never thought it would take this long,” Federer said.

Asked whether he’d considered his future while being sidelined, he added: “Retirement was never really on the cards.

“I think it’s more of a conversation if the knee keeps bothering me for months and months – then let’s look at it.

“This is not the time to think about that…let’s say in the fall of this year.

“I just feel like the story is not over. It’s not like there’s one particular reason that I wanted to keep playing tennis other than I enjoyed playing tennis, I enjoy being on the road.

“I’m still a work in progress but probably one of the other reasons for coming back is I want to get that high again of playing against the biggest players and in the biggest tournaments and hopefully winning them again.”
Fans delighted by Roger Federer retirement admission

Federer, who’s a three-time champion in Doha but has not competed there since 2012, will face either his occasional practice partner, British No.1 Dan Evans, or Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his first match.

“Obviously at this moment I feel like it’s just about let’s see how matches go, let’s see how training goes with all the top guys and professional players, not just sparring partners.

“I hope by Wimbledon, I’m going to be 100 per cent and that’s when the season starts for me.

“Everything until then it’s just ‘let’s see how it goes’ – I might surprise myself but then actually I’ve already done in practice the last few weeks, I was surprised at actually how well it did go.

“But, like we know, matches are a different animal.”

Federer will drop out of the top five in the world rankings for the first time in five years on Monday.

👀👀👀

Roger Federer never considered retirement despite 14-month absence from tennis https://t.co/dsP1sCubEF

— Andrew (@andrewcdf) March 7, 2021

Woohoo. Federer back.

BBC News – Roger Federer never considered retirement despite 14-month absence from tennishttps://t.co/gO2TZpQdRF

— Lizzie Rynne 💙 (@_MMaritima) March 7, 2021

pic.twitter.com/k6z2ei6Wbb

— Stephen (@plappedcrackers) March 7, 2021

Nice to hear that i didn't see him in US OPEN..AO..etc he needs to compete the next event

— Nasser the king Haji (@kanedid92) March 7, 2021

Serena Williams has thrown her support behind Meghan Markle after the Duchess of Sussex’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey on Monday.

Some of the more explosive claims Markle made included that she contemplated suicide and that the royal family had “concerns and conversations” about the colour of baby Archie’s skin.

Reacting to the interview on social media, Serena spoke out in support of good friend Markle while also taking aim at the media and “tabloid journalism.”

“Meghan Markle, my selfless friend, lives her life – and leads by example – with empathy and compassion,” the 23-time grand slam champion tweeted.

“She teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble. Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she’s experienced.

“I know first hand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of colour to minimise us, to break us down and demonise us.

“We must recognise our obligation to decry malicious, unfounded gossip and tabloid journalism.

“The mental health consequences of systemic oppression and victimisation are devastating, isolating and all too often lethal.

“I want Meghan’s daughter, my daughter and your daughter to live in a society that is driven by respect.

“Keep in your memory the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

pic.twitter.com/fYx4HlZutl

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) March 8, 2021

Markle has attended a number of Serena’s matches throughout her career, while the tennis legend was also invited to Harry and Meghan’s wedding.

Meghan Markle’s explosive claims in Oprah interview
On Monday, Markle said she started to have suicidal thoughts during her first pregnancy as the intense scrutiny took its toll.

“I realised it was all happening just because I was breathing,” she said.

“I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry, especially, because I know how much loss he suffered but I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it, and I just didn’t want to be alive any more.

“And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.

“We had to go to this event and I remember him saying, ‘I don’t think you can go’ and I said ‘I can’t be left alone’.”
Meghan said she went to the royal family for help.

“I said that I’ve never felt this way before and that I need to go somewhere and I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” she said.

“I share this because there’s so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help and I know personally know how hard it is to voice it but to voice it and be told ‘no’.”

Markle refused to divulge who raised concerns about Acrhie’s skin, saying it would be ‘damaging’ for that person.

“That was relayed to me by Harry that was conversations family had with him,” she said.

A gobsmacked Oprah asked: “Was the concern he would be too brown?”

To which Markle responded: “I wasn’t able to follow up why, but if that’s the assumption you’re making it feels like a pretty safe one.”