Few athletes are as fascinating as Serena Williams. Rightly praised and often wrongly criticized, the tennis icon shocked the world when she announced her pregnancy after winning the Australian Open.
Then she married the co-founder of Reddit and the world lost its mind. It was then that people realized how perfect these two are for each other and everything was okay again It is okay to be jealous of Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian.
Their love is pure and perfect. They post the cutest and funniest videos of their adventures online for all of us to see. If you haven’t, you have to watch the one where they bust out some crazy dance moves while listening to New Edition.
After reading this, you’ll believe their love for each other is as genuine as we do. Only true love would make the co-founder of Reddit rent four billboards to declare his love.
On the day Serena Williams met Alexis Ohanian in 2015, her friends were actually trying to get him away from her. The group was having breakfast together when Ohanian sat down next to Williams even though there were plenty other seats available.
William’s friends told Ohanian there were rats where he was sitting. He responded, “Is there really a rat here? I’m from Brooklyn, I see rats all the time.” The nonchalant answer intrigued Williams, who invited her new friend to come and sit with her old friends. And just like that, their relationship began.
Williams and Ohanian dated for 15 months before they let anyone know. Once he proposed, there was no reason to hide anymore. The news shocked the world. Before the announcement, Williams had been linked to both Drake and Common. No one suspected she would ever fall in love with a tech guy!
As for Ohanian, he had just ended a five year relationship when he met Williams. He had been dating his college sweetheart and microbiologist Sabriya Stukes. Only one time in their 15 month courtship were Williams and Ohanian ever linked together.
Fans weren’t the only people shocked to find out Williams was pregnant. She learned herself right before she was scheduled to participate in the Australian Open! To make sure, she took six pregnancy tests, which all showed the same result. Determined to compete still, she got a doctors approval.
When the world found out she competed and won, while pregnant, they were outraged. Even after Williams assured everyone that she was medically cleared to play, she was still labeled as irresponsible by naysayers. It didn’t help that her pregnancy reveal was an accidental Snapchat baby bump selfie!
Amazingly, both Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams say they never knew who the other person was before they met. Ohanion said that he thought he was talking to Serena Williams, but he wasn’t a tennis fan so
A few weeks after they met, Williams and Ohanian went on their first date. The tennis icon was getting ready to compete in the French Open and invited Ohanian to join for a romantic weekend together. Ohanian accepted, because who would say no to Williams, but said he didn’t have high expectations.
He knew
After spending a year with Williams, Ohanian knew he wanted to marry her. For their one year anniversary, he invited her to Rome, where he set up a trail of rose petals leading her to the spot they first met. There was even a plastic rat on the table just for fun!
Williams said yes, and announced the engagement on Reddit. In the post, she referred to herself as the “Future Mrs. kn0thing,” using a play on Ohanian’s username. At the bottom of the post, Ohanian wrote, “And you made me the happiest man on the planet.”
When Williams introduced her daughter, Olympia, to the world in September 2017, she kept the health complications she endured during her pregnancy a secret. A few months later she finally revealed that her heart rate dropped during contractions and emergency C-section had to be performed.
Her first week as a new mother, Williams had shortness of breath and blood clots in her lungs. Her coughing became so violent her C-section wound re-opened. She took six weeks to recover from another surgery before she could begin performing her duties as a mother again. saying, “I was happy to change diapers.”
Before the couple got married, they took Olympia to her first movie. Ohanian rented out an entire theater so the family could see Thor: Ragnorak together, because Serena “really wanted to see her other man.” They knew the movie would be loud and violent, and planned accordingly.
In a video posted online before the film started, they let audiences know that Olympia had ear muffs, and that Ohanian would cover her eyes when things got to violent. The cute video ends with Serena asleep on Ohanian’s shoulder. Our hearts have officially melted.
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian LOVE Disney. Instead of having a traditional wedding, they had a Beauty and the Beast themed, star-studded affair. Everyone was there, including Beyonce. As guests entered the occasion, they were treated to the song “Be Our Guest.”
Having such a non-traditional wedding was very important to Williams. As Williams was gearing up for her return to tennis in February 2018, Ohanian designed and paid to have four billboards put up in her honor. Each giant billboard had a picture of Olympia and Serena and read “G.MO.A.T” or “greatest momma of all-time.”
Say what you want about how far society has come, some people are still surprised when interracial couples marry. Williams admitted as much with The New York Times, saying she never