Recently at this year’s Met Gala in NYC, Serena Williams made an entrance in a tight emerald green Versace gown highlighting her almost full term pregnancy bump. With diamond and emerald earrings dripping from her ear lobes and a huge grin lighting up her face, she was positively glowing. The tennis champ came on the arm of her brand new fiancé, Reddit co- founder Alexis Ouhanian, who looked proud as punch to be with her. After a string of flopped romances, she is serenely happy with her 6’5″ “techie geek” because he lavishes her with love and attention. Here is how they met and love blossomed

Serena Jameka Williams was born in 1981 in a small Michigan town to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. Both her parents were divorced and had children from their first marriages. Her mother had three older daughters from a previous union while her father had six children from his ex-wife. The couple got married in 1979 after Venus was born and then had their youngest child Serena. The family moved to Compton, a rough, gang infested, primarily black, LA neigbourhood where Richard started taking tennis lessons from a coach fondly called Old Whiskey.  He got so taken up by the game that one day, after watching women’s professional tennis being played on TV, he decided that his two toddler daughters would also become tennis professionals. He methodically wrote up a 78-page plan, and started giving lessons to Venus and Serena when they were only four and three respectively at public tennis courts. He now advises that six is the right age for a child to start receiving tennis lessons. To ensure that the girls had sufficient time to dedicate to the sport, he home-schooled them. Both he and their mother coached the girls in addition to another Compton tennis coach also called Richard Williams who went on to found The Venus and Serena Williams Tennis/Tutorial Academy in Compton. When local professional tennis player Tony Chesta spotted Venus playing when she was nine, he was very impressed with her talent. Richard knew the girls needed access to better facilities.

Step 2 was the Williams’ family relocating to West Palm Beach, Florida when the girls were ten and nine so that they could attend the famed tennis academy of Rick Macci. Macci is a United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Master Professional, and seven-time national coach of the year who has in his illustrious career trained a few number one ranked players, namely Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova, besides the Williams sister of course. To have him agree to coach a youngster means that child shows exceptional skill and promise. He agreed to give both Venus and Serena additional coaching at his academy. At times, Macci and Williams did not see eye to eye, but the former empathized with their father understanding that he “treated his daughters like kids and allowed them to be little girls.”

But then, Williams stopped sending his daughters to national junior tennis tournaments after only a year when Serena turned 10 for two main reasons: firstly, he wanted them not to neglect their studies and, secondly, he had heard white parents talk about his daughters in a derogatory, racist manner during tournaments. Even though, at that time, Venus held a an astonishing 63–0 record on the United States Tennis Association junior tour and was ranked No. 1 among the under-12 players in Southern California, and Serena held a 46–3 record and was ranked number one among under-10 players in Florida. Then, in 1995 when Serena was in the ninth grade, their father pulled his girls completely out of Macci’s academy and took over all their coaching. When asked later why this happened and whether having followed the normal path of playing regularly on the junior circuit they would have become even better, Serena replied, “Everyone does different things. I think for Venus and I, we just attempted a different road, and it worked for us.”

With their father

The Williams family

Much discipline, sacrifice and work ethic later, the two sisters dominated the tennis world. Everyone has seen the Williams sisters’ powerful style of playing tennis, their bodies so strong and well built, they look almost super human. You can clearly hear the tennis ball as it’s whacked powerfully by the racket and the sinews of their long limbs glisten with perspiration in the sun. It is an indeed an impressive sight. Both the sisters are not only tennis champs but credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women’s professional tennis tour. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has ranked Serena world number one in singles on seven occasions from 2002 to 2017. On her sixth time, she held the ranking for 186 consecutive weeks, tying the record set by Steffi Graff for the most consecutive weeks as world number one by a female tennis player. In total, Serena has been world number one for 318 weeks, which ranks her 3rd in the Open Era among female tennis players. Venus’ seven Grand Slam singles titles ties her twelfth on the all-time list, more than any other active female player except Serena.

With their mother

Some commentators and sports writers regard Serena as the greatest female tennis player of all time, having set many records. Her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles marks the record for the most Major wins by a tennis player in the Open Era, and second on the all-time list. In fact, Serena is the only tennis player in history (man or woman) to have won singles titles at least six times in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, and the only player ever to have won two of the four Majors seven times each (seven Wimbledon titles and seven Australian Open titles). She is also the only tennis player to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades. Impressively, she holds an all-time record for the most singles matches won at the Grand Slams (man or woman) with 316 matches.

The two sisters also make a formidable team playing doubles, having won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together; the pair is unbeaten in Grand Slam doubles finals. As a team, the Williams sisters have the third most women’s doubles grand slam titles. Both have won four Olympic gold medals each, one in women’s singles and three in women’s doubles, an all-time record that they share.

Celebrating her wins

The Williams sisters are hardly one dimensional, even authoring a book alongside writer Hilary Beard titled Venus & Serena: Serving From The Hip: 10 Rules For Living, Loving and Winning, which was published in 2005.  While elder sister Venus is worth $75 million and is dating a Cuban model, younger sister Serena is worth a whopping $150 million. Venus’ career has experienced setbacks due to injuries, but Serena is still going strong as the world’s highest paid female athlete in 2016, earning $28.9 million in prize money and endorsements. She is the three times winner of the prestigious Laureus Sportswoman of the Year award and was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine in 2015. The two invested some of their millions into becoming minority owners of the Miami Dolphins in 2009 after purchasing a small stake in the team, becoming the first African-American women to hold any amount of ownership in an NFL franchise. Their home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is an hour’s drive from the Dolphins’ stadium.

Both the sisters love fashion and flaunt their unique sense of style on and off the court. Venus even got an associate degree in fashion design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. They have always bucked the trend of tennis whites by dressing in colourful and creative attire and have worn their hair long and flowing. Serena has even worn a black lycra catsuit at the US Open, while another time she wore a denim skirt and knee-high boots, which tournament officials made her replace for tennis shoes during matches. For one Wimbledon match, Serena turned up in a white trench coat despite the sunny weather. They two have also graced the runway for charity fundraising fashion shows. Serena has her own line of designer apparel Aneres (Serena backwards).

Besides these accomplishments, Serena has released her first solo autobiography entitled On the Line, following the 2009 US Open. And that’s not all, she is fluent in French, giving her on-court interviews at the French Open in French and knows some Spanish and Italian as well. In 2015, she became the first black female athlete to grace the cover of American Vogue. Close friends with Beyonce, she danced in her music video for her track Sorry on the hit album Lemonade after the director told her, “We would love for you to be in this particular song. It’s about strength and it’s about courage and that’s what we see you as.”

Serena’s personal life during her many career successes has been patchy with a string of broken romances. She dated many A-list stars from the world of film, music and sports. Her first high-profile relationship was in 2002 with football star Keyshawn Johnson, a decade her senior. The footballer was playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the time and had recently split with his first wife. Serena is notoriously reticent about her personal life and never confirmed her relationship. The two sports stars gave each other stability with Serena winning four straight Grand Slams for the first time in her career between 2002 and 2003 and Johnson leading the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory while they were dating. However, for some reason they called it quits.

In 2004, Serena dated movie director Brett Ratner for a period of two years. He was 12 years older than her and at the peak of his career at the time due to the success of the first two Rush Hour films. During their relationship, he directed the biggest grosser of his career X-Men: The Last Stand, which made $500 million worldwide, while Serena won just one Grand Slam in those two years. Then, she moved on with actor Jackie Long in 2007 who reportedly dumped the tennis star badly. She later blogged about the experience describing how he “disappeared for a week” before calling to break up with her just as she was falling in love with him. Next came the rapper Common with whom Serena spent two years. She was briefly linked to Amar’e Stoudemire, the New York Knicks power forward. Bulgarian tennis player and heartthrob Grigor Dimitrov was her next boyfriend, who left Serena for Maria Sharapova. Smarting from this, she fell in the arms of her tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Though the romantic relationship fizzled out, Mouratoglou has continued to be her coach and is credited with her incredible success over the past five years. In 2015, rumors flew thick and fast that Serena was dating musician Drake. This is around the time she met Alexis.

The two sisters are very keen on fashion

Alexis Kerry Ohanian, born in 1983, is two years younger than the tennis star. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Chris Ohanian, an Armenian-American whose grandparents came to the US as refugees fleeing the Armenian genocide, and German-born Anke, an au pair girl visiting NYC when she met Chris and overstayed her visa. After President Trump took over the White House, Alexis tweeted, “My father’s family were refugees & my mom was an undocumented immigrant. Without them, there’s no me & no @Reddit.”

Alexis attended Howard High School in a small Maryland town where he gave the student address for his graduating class in 2001. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 2005 with degrees in commerce and history, Alexis and his college buddy Steve Huffman, a computer science major, pitched the idea of My Mobile Menureddit.com to Y Combinator that gives seed money to tech startups, many of which have gone on to become giants in the industry. Though the venture capital company passed on the idea, the two friends managed to impress the executives enough to encourage them to come up with a better idea that they could fund. The 22 year old fresh college grads came up with reddit.com, potentially the “front page of the Internet.” It was to go on to become huge!

Sinewy muscles

On a lighter note

Taking her bow after a successful fashion show at NY Fashion Week 2016

 The two friends moved to Boston and were only a month into development when tragedy struck. Alexis learned that his girlfriend had fallen five stories and was in a coma. Then his father called and told him that his mother had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumor. Hence, under pressure, the partners decided to sell their fledgling company to publishing giant Condé Nast in 2006 for an undisclosed amount between 10–20 million dollars. Later, Huffman said that his decision to sell Reddit had been a mistake, and that the site’s phenomenal growth exceeded his expectations. Both continued to work closely with Reddit as members of its Board of Directors. When it became independent in 2015, they were asked to lead it full time. Huffman was appointed CEO of Reddit, while Ohanian became executive chairman It was recently valued at £407million and is reported to be the seventh biggest site in the U.S.

With pro footballer Keyshawn Johnson in 2002 at a Super Bowl after party in 2003, during her first Serena Slam 

An enterprising young man, in 2007, after he had sold Reddit, Ouhanian didn’t merely retire with his millions in the bank but started the social enterprise Breadpig an “uncorporation” that produces “geeky merchandise” and donates the proceeds to charity. He also launched the travel search website Hipmunk with Huffman in 2010 for which they now act as advisers. In addition, Alexis  Ohanian launched his company Das Kapital Capital in 2010, which focuses on startup investing, advising and consulting. Like Serena, he also published a book titled Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed in 2013, which ranked fourth on the Wall Street Journal’s best sellers list  in the Hardcover Business category and which he promoted thorough an intense five-month, 150-stop and 75-university tour. The same year, Ouhanian was featured as one of the “champions of innovation” in the 20th Anniversary issue of Wired. Ohanian served as a partner at the same firm that had first funded him Y Combinator and was named its “Ambassador to the East,” meeting with East Coast applicants, mentors and NYC founders. Forbes included him in the “30 Under 30” list as an important figure in the technology industry for two years running—2012 and 2013.

Known for his skill and expertise for spotting smart start up ideas, Ohanian was named in Crain’s “40 Under 40” list for business in 2015. Last year, he left Y Combinator with another partner there Gerry Tan to launch the third Initialized Capital, an early stage seed fund with over $160 million under management. Ouhanian was that year named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.” Quite an achievement oriented young man of only 33.

With New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire in 2010

Grigor Dimitrov who left Serena for tennis rival Maria Sharapova 

With rumoured boyfriend in 2015 Drake

With coach & ex-bf Patrick Mouratoglou

The two powerhouses, Serena and Alexis first met each other by chance in Rome in May 2015, when she was there playing the clay court tournament ahead of the French Open. They kept their burgeoning relationship underground as is her wont. Though Drake was actually at Wimbledon in July cheering Serena on and celebrating her Wimbledon win with her, at the same time Alexis posted a picture of his laptop on Instagram, showing that he had woken up early to also cheer Serena on from afar. We don’t know if there was any overlapping, if Serena was keeping her options open or if Drake was just a friend. Regardless, Us Weekly tabloid reported in October that Serena took Aexis to her workout at the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics, where he called her “babe” and they “held hands.” He must be quite a confident young man to workout alongside a Williams sister. Perhaps she put him through his paces to see if he could keep up with her, as others clearly couldn’t.

In November of 2015, the undercover duo happened to get caught on surveillance camera having dinner in San Francisco (where he now resides) as a man knicked her phone off their table during the date. Superhero style she gave chase, managed to retrieve it and calmly resumed her dinner.

Alexis Ohanian made it big at only 22

Over the past year, Alexis has regularly posted about being a Serena Williams’ fan cheering her on both on and off the court, but no one caught on. Last May, he posted her photo winning a tournament in Rome with the caption, “A year ago today, I became a tennis fan. One of the best decisions I ever made.” Two months later, he again posted about her historic win at the All England Club, writing: “Our queen stopped by center court today. So proud of you, @serenawilliams. 22 looks good on you. #Wimbledon.’”Not only did he support her after her loss at the US Open, afterwards he sat front row at her fashion show and posted he photo taking a bow on the runway with the caption, “‘Congrats on a great show @serenawilliams – so proud of you. Well on your way to dominating another industry. #NYFW #blurry.” Little did anyone realize that he was more than just a fan of the tennis superstar. What a supportive and kind boyfriend! Who wouldn’t want such a man in their life?!

A friend of Serena revealed to the press once the news finally got out that “They’ve never seen Serena this happy before with a man. It sounds cheesy, but it was love at first sight. They laugh non-stop and that really fuels their relationship. They are on the same page in life and are excited to start something great with each other.”

First date caught on camera

Celebrating Halloween 2016 together

They got engaged in Rome

Alexis it seems is quite the romantic. Last December, he flew Serena to Rome where they sat at the same table where they had first shared a meal together and popped the question. Later she told Gayle King at a TED business conference about what she felt at hearing his proposal, “I never felt pressure to get married, and I can’t say I’m the marrying type. I love my life. I love my freedom. I hear that kind of changes. I love my career, and I didn’t want anything to interfere with that. … When he proposed, I was almost angry. Not almost, I was angry because it was right in the middle of my training season and I thought, ‘I have to win the Australian Open.’ … I really wanted to pass Steffi Graf’s record.”

Revealing V-daygift from her fiance this year, a game

Serena and Alexis announced the news of their engagement where else but on their social media accounts. Accompanying a picture of them in Rome grinning with sheer joy as they hugged and she showed off a dazzling diamond engagement ring.

Serena posted a poem she wrote on Reddit, what else?

“I came home

A little late

Someone had a bag packed for me.

And a carriage awaited

Destination: Rome.

To escort me to my very own ‘charming’

Back to where our stars first collided.

And now it was full circle

At the same table we first met by chance.

This time he made it not by chance

But by choice.

‘Down on one knee

He said 4 words /And I said yes.’”

Alexis too shared his happy news on his Facebook page posting, “She said yes.”

After the engagement, the couple came out in the open. They rang in the New Year together in Auckland, New Zealand and were spotted boarding a helicopter to fly to Waiheke Island for a quick romantic getaway. She was in the tiniest Daisy Duke shorts, highlighting her muscular thighs.  Even though Alexis is very tall, Serena is no shorty standing at 5’9” and visually they go together as well.

Alexis was next seen cheering on his fiancée as she competed and won at the Australian Open and achieved her goal by surpassing Steffi Graf’s Grand Slam win tally and cement her status as the greatest of all time. And she did this while eight weeks pregnant!

Glamorous at the Met Gala 2017 this April

Serena posted her for Valentine’s gift from him, a $60 NES Classic Mini, which is a reimagining of the 8-bit video game console from 1983.“When you date a ‘techie’ you get these gifts,” she wrote and said she loved it. Even though, according to Forbes, her net worth was estimated at $150 million in 2016 and Ohanian’s at $4.5 million, approximately just 3 percent of hers, she demonstrated that it’s the thought that matters where gifts are concerned. The gift was probably an inside joke between the couple that finally he can beat her at a game because he could never beat her at tennis, and she appreciated his sense of spirit and humour.

When King remarked that she hadn’t expected Serena to end up “with a geek.” She joked back, “You can tell he’s into technology.”

Showing off her figure in a yellow bathing suit on Snapchat in a video where her baby bump was clearly visible, Serena accidentally leaked out news of her 20 week pregnancy on April 20th, a post she quickly deleted but by then the news had gone viral. Therefore, her representative had to confirm the pregnancy.

US Open Tennis representative posted congratulations: “Serena Williams will have a new pride and joy to hug and call her own soon! Congratulations on the exciting baby announcement!”

Happily ever after in an Instagram photo

Serena then shared a tribute to her unborn baby on her Instagram page, writing she “couldn’t wait to meet them. I can’t wait for you to join the players box next year. But most importantly, I am so happy to share being number one in the world with you…. once again today. On @alexisohanian bday from the world’s oldest number one to the world’s youngest number one. Your Mommy.” Clearly the driven athlete is planning to resume tennis after the birth and she’s already 35. That is quite the drive and ambition.

Currently, Serena is pondering over  whether she should relocate to San Francisco where Alexis currently resides, “That’s the question of the hour. I couldn’t be stuck in a more beautiful place,” she answered a question posed by Vogue’s Andrew Leon Talley at the Met Gala.

Looks like the statuesque, super high achieving couple has as good a chance of making it together as anyone else and we wish them all the luck!