Serena Williams: 'Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and I rely on each other a lot'

Serena Williams is still getting plenty of support from her pal Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Following her on court drama ahead of her defeat to Naomi Osaka at the U.S. Open earlier this month (Sep18), the tennis champion gave an interview to Australian TV show The Project during which she touched on her friendship with the former Suits actress, who married British royal Prince Harry in May.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion told interviewer Lisa Wilkinson that she and Meghan are still in regular contact, despite the Duchess' busy new schedule as a part of the British royal family.

“We were actually just texting each other this morning,” the tennis ace shared. “We have known each other for a long time, but we really are relying on each other a lot recently."

Both women, who became friends after meeting at the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami, have been dealing with their own stresses of late. Serena has been weathering the fallout from her on court meltdown, which saw her penalised for a code violation and led to her losing the final. Meanwhile, Meghan has suffered a series of inflammatory leaks from her family, and has had to deal with her father giving interviews to the media.

Serena also shared how proud she was to attend the Royal Wedding with her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian - an occasion she described as "historic".

"To have such a monumental moment in England, nonetheless of all the places, I felt like we were literally watching history," she told The Project.

“I feel like in a few years we are going to look back at that moment and it’s going to be so historic. It’s going to be something that people never forget. The whole service was really wonderful, and most of all I just wanted to see my friend be happy. And I think that’s what happened."