Serena Williams: Meghan couldn’t be a better friend to me

Serena Williams has said the Duchess of Sussex “could not have been a better friend” to her, as she clinched a spot in the Wimbledon final.

The tennis star praised Meghan for coming to support her as she made an impromptu visit to Wimbledon last week to see her match against Kaja Juvan.

The 23-time grand slam winner said she avoids reading anything about the duchess in the press.

Meghan was accused of instructing her royal protection officers to tell spectators not to take photos of her because she was at the tournament “in a private capacity”.

She was photographed on court one with two friends with the rows around them cleared.

One man was told off for taking a snap, when he was actually taking a selfie with the court in the background.

Williams and the duchess are good friends, with the tennis star and her husband Alexis Ohanian Snr attending her wedding to Prince Harry last summer.

Following her semi-final victory against Barbora Strycova, Williams was asked whether she hoped the duchess would ignore the criticism and continue to attend her matches.

Williams replied: “You know, I didn’t know there was negative media out there.

“Any time I see her name attached to anything, I don’t read it.

“She couldn’t be a better friend to me. Low moments, high moments, she’s always there.

“That’s all I want to be to her.”

The player also defended Johanna Konta, who was accused of losing her temper following “patronising” questions from a male reporter in the wake of her quarter finals defeat.

Williams said: “I feel like she’s had a remarkable year.

“If anything, everyone should be happy for her, especially what she’s done in the past 12 months.

“Coming back around and changing, coming back to the semi-finals of the French Open, then (the) quarter-finals here.

“I would only think it should have been positive questions, but that’s not the case a lot of the time.

“Hopefully everyone can learn from that.”

Additional reporting by PA.