Serena: My friend Meghan will be cheering me on
WITH her domination of the women’s game, she is seen as tennis royalty.
But Serena Williams will have actual royalty cheering her on in tomorrow’s ladies’ singles final at Wimbledon – her friend Meghan Markle.
The Duchess of Sussex will be watching from the Royal Box as her fellow American tries to become only the second mother in more than a century to win the title.
Miss Williams, 36, who faces Germany’s Angelique Kerber, was a guest at Meghan’s marriage to Prince Harry in May and spoke last night about her bond with the former actress.
‘We always had a wonderful friendship,’ she said. ‘Every year for a couple years she comes out to Wimbledon, has supported me... Now she’s supporting me in a different role but our friendship is still exactly the same. We always have supported each other, just been there for each other through a lot. I look forward to it.’
Asked whether she sees herself as ‘tennis royalty’, Miss Williams, who has won Wimbledon seven times, replied: ‘If there was a royalty, I probably would be.
‘If there was a Wimbledon royalty, I would like to believe I would be Wimbledon royalty because I’ve done pretty well here in the past.’ Miss Williams said she has surprised herself by reaching the final, nine months after she nearly died following the birth of daughter Olympia.
She was bedridden for weeks after she developed blood clots in the lungs and abdomen following an emergency caesarean, and as a result wears compression sleeves and tights on court.
‘It’s been a crazy ten months. I was still pregnant at this time last year,’ she said. ‘That’s something I have to keep reminding myself. Also, you know, going out there, being a mum, is super cool.’
Miss Williams is looking to become the first mother to win the title since Evonne Goolagong. The Australian won her second title in 1980, three years after having her first child, and is the only mother to win Wimbledon in the past 100 years. No mother had reached the final since.
Another mother making a comeback at Wimbledon will be the Duchess of Cambridge, who will join her sister-in-law Meghan in the Royal Box tomorrow even though she is still officially on maternity leave from royal duties following the birth of Prince Louis in April.