Serena Williams shows off special gift from close friend Meghan Markle on her 44th birthday

Serena Williams celebrated her 44th birthday on Friday. The 23-time Grand Slam champion received well-wishes from all around the globe, but a close friend of hers sent a special package.

On Friday, Williams received a special delivery from As Ever. She dropped a video on Instagram stories where she unboxes a gift package from As Ever. The package included Napa Valley Rosé. In her Stories, she tagged Meghan Markle and the As Ever brand. Meghan also later reposted Serena’s unboxing to her own Instagram stories.

Serena Williams' Instagram story

Serena Williams is a close friend of Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex has founded lifestyle brand As Ever. The brand's earlier name was "American Riviera Orchard," but due to trademark complications, they had to rebrand it.

How Serena Williams and Meghan Markle became friends?

Serena Williams and Meghan Markle first met at the Super Bowl in 2010. After several more such occasions where they met each other, their friendship blossomed.

One key event in the friendship came in February 2014, when they both participated in the DirecTV Beach Bowl (a celebrity charity event with flag football). They played together and Meghan later admitted that it was when they really "hit it off."

"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 wrote on The Tig.

From that point on, Meghan Markle started attending Serena Williams' matches. IN response, Williams would also actively support Markle in her public projects. Talking more about their friendship on The Tig, Markle wrote:

"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.

"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."

Serena Williams also talked about their friendship after losing the 2019 Wimbledon final to Romania’s Simona Halep. In the post-match conference, she said (via People):

“She’s such a great friend and a great person as well. And always positive, no matter what. It’s so good to have people like that, just to know,” adding that Meghan, 37, is “such a fan of the sport.”

Williams attended Meghan Markle’s royal wedding in May 2018 and also hosted Meghan’s baby shower in New York in early 2019.