Meghan Markle Is Truly Going The Distance To Support Serena Williams' Tennis Match

Meghan Markle really is the ultimate best friend, just based on her latest excursion stateside. According to People, Markle is traveling to NYC to support Serena Williams during her U.S. Open Women's Singles final match, proving that the pair of icons are such BFF goals.

The Times first broke the news about the Duchess of Sussex traveling to the Big Apple, which was a "last-minute trip," according to a source. The insider also detailed that she is "excited to support her friend, and then come back” and will return back to the United Kingdom at the end of the weekend. Williams will compete against Bianca Andreescu in a finals match that will take place on Saturday, Sept. 7, per People.

Additionally, People reported that Markle, who traveled without Prince Harry or baby Archie, boarded a commercial flight from London on Sept. 6 to start her journey. It will mark the first time that the duchess has been back in the United States since she traveled to New York City back in February for a baby shower thrown by some of her friends, including Williams.

Since the two are such good friends, it shouldn't come as a surprise to hear that this isn't the first time that the royal has cheered on the tennis great during one of her finals matches. In July 2019, Markle, alongside her sister-in-law Kate Middleton and Duchess of Cambridge's sister, Pippa Middleton, supported the athlete during her Women's Singles Finals match against Simona Halep. The two duchesses also attended Wimbledon in July 2018 to watch the Women's Singles finals match between Williams and Angelique Kerber, an outing which marked the royal women's first solo excursion together without their princely husbands, per People.

Clearly, Markle's return to the tennis circuit to watch Williams' latest finals match shows just how close the two women really are. And in case these recent (and upcoming) outings aren't enough to convince you that the duchess and the athlete share a close bond, the tennis champ's comments in defense of her friend, given in response to Markle's Wimbledon-related controversy, will surely showcase their bestie status.

In July, following Markle's trip to Wimbledon with a couple of her friends (prior to her attendance at the event with the Middletons), the Duchess of Sussex was met with a bit of controversy. Her visit was deemed controversial by some because she wore jeans at the event, which All England Club members reportedly considered a fashion faux pas, and because her security team supposedly asked people to not take photos of her, per the Daily Mail. (The All England Club refuted these claims, telling The Times, "Any suggestion that the duchess’s visit was anything other than a privilege for the club is categorically not the view of the club, and she is always welcome to attend the championships.")

In response to these (ridiculous) controversies aka "negative" media, Williams spoke out in defense of Markle during a Wimbledon press conference, during which she said, "I didn’t know there was negative media out there," she said. “Any time I see her name attached to anything, I don’t read it." She continued to sing the duchess' praises (as seen in the below video around the 7:40 mark), telling reporters,

“She couldn’t be a better friend to me. Low moments, high moments, she’s always there, and that’s all I want to be to her.”

Just like Williams said, Markle is always there for her (and vice versa). Given that fact, it makes all the sense in the world that the Duchess of Sussex would go above and beyond in order to cheer on her best friend during one of the biggest events in tennis.