Tennis Rumors: Serena Williams Has New BFF

Serena Williams may have been too much friendly with her fellow WTA players as of late. In fact, she seems to have already found a new BFF after partying with Caroline Wozniacki. Everyone, meet Serena's newest playmate - Belarusian beauty Victoria Azarenka.

Despite their status as two of the most competitive players in women's tennis today, Williams and Azarenka appear to get along pretty well off the court based on their recent pictures posted on Vika's Instagram account.

Throughout the years, Williams has been notoriously labeled as being unfriendly with other WTA tour players. She even had some heated moments with other women's tennis stars like Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova, who's currently dating Serena's rumored boyfriend two years ago - Grigor Dimitrov.

Apparently, Williams might have finally learned the value of friendship over time as she has become more open to mingle with her rivals off the court these past few months.

One concrete example of Serena's growing friendliness is when she served as a big sister to Wozniacki after the Dane's painful split with world's no.1 golfer Rory McIlroy. Just days after her marriage with the Irish golfer was cancelled, Wozniacki was spotted sunbathing with Williams on South beach and then watching a Miami Heat playoff game last May.

Ironically, Williams and Wozniacki met each other in the women's singles finals of the US Open championships, where the American went on to beat her Danish friend in straight sets for the 18^th Grand Slam title of her career. After the match, the two shrugged off their competitive nature and celebrated their victories together at a New York bar.

Now, Williams has shifted her attention on getting along with Victoria Azarenka, whom she met twice in the US Open finals.

"Serena Williams has often been accused of being unfriendly in the locker room by her peers. Growing up, she had her older sister Venus Williams always around and didn't really need any other friends on the tour. But the 33-year-old American, winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, is surely turning over a new leaf in this aspect," according to Tennis World USA.

For tennis followers, Williams' act of camaraderie with her WTA Tour opponents could be a sign of maturity from the world's best women's player. She probably realized that she needs to be a mentor to young promising netters like Wozniacki and Azarenka, while erasing the stigma of unfriendliness that defined her in the early days of her career.