Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian's Relationship in Photos

Williams and Ohanian — who met in 2015, welcomed daughter Olympia in 2016 and wed in 2017 — are each other's biggest fans

By Andrea Wurzburger
February 17, 2021 09:00 AM

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May 2015

Credit: alexis ohanian/ instagram

The tennis star and the Reddit co-founder met in Rome on May 12, 2015, just before Williams was meant to play her first match at the Italian Open. The pair told Vanity Fair that initially, Ohanian had sat at a table Williams and her camp were planning on using for breakfast, and after trying to "get him to move and get out of there," Williams invited Ohanian to join her.

Williams then invited him to her match that night, and Ohanian posted a photo to Instagram from the stands captioned, "Looks like I just became a tennis fan."

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September 2015

Credit: Alexis ohanian/ instagram

Later that month, the pair met up again in Paris, where Williams was playing in the French Open, and the rest is history. 

In September 2015, Ohanian posted a photo of Williams playing at the U.S. Open captioned, "Come at the queen, you best not miss. #USOpen."

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August 2016

Credit: serena williams/instagram

Though Ohanian was hinting at their relationship, Williams stayed mum, first posting a photo of Ohanian to her Instagram in August 2016. 

Of the image, Williams teased Ohanian as a “nerd.”

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October 2016

For Halloween that year, the pair dressed in bear costumes at a party, with Williams showing off their outfits on Instagram. 

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December 2016

Credit: serena williams/instagram

In December 2016, Ohanian proposed to Williams in the same spot that they met: by the pool of the Cavalieri hotel in Rome. 

The Reddit co-founder told Vanity Fair that he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Williams in April 2016. He said, "I felt like a door had been opened to a person who made me want to be my best self ... I find myself just wanting to be better by simply being around her because of the standard she holds.”

Williams announced the news with a poem — on Reddit, of course.

“I came home. A little late. Someone had a bag packed for me. And a carriage waited. Destination: Rome,” Williams wrote on her Reddit account.

“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,” she wrote. “But by choice. Down on knee. He said 4 words. And I said yes.”

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December 2016

Credit: Serena Williams/Instagram

At the time of their engagement, a source told E! News that Williams' friends had “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,” the source added. “They are on the same page in life and are excited to start something great with each other.”

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January 2017

Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty

As she was preparing to play in the Australian Open, Williams found out that she was pregnant. The G.O.A.T., eight weeks along at the time, won the tournament. 

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April-May 2017

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Williams announced her pregnancy on Snapchat in April 2017, sharing a photo of herself sporting a baby bump with the caption “20 weeks” — though she quickly deleted the image.

Williams and Ohanian attended their first Met Gala together in May 2017, where Williams showed off her growing bump in a gorgeous green Atelier Versace design.

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September 2017

On Sept. 1, 2017, Williams and Ohanian welcomed their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., into the world.

The couple confirmed the news on Instagram on Sept. 13, with Ohanian writing, "Welcome, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., we're so happy to meet you." He accompanied the post with a video of their "adventure together so far" and added, "Our little girl is already mama's perfect sidekick."

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November 2017

Credit: HomeAway.com; Serena Williams Instagram

The pair were wed at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans on Nov. 16,  just 11 weeks after welcoming their baby girl. Their daughter, Olympia, was present at the event and wore an adorable white gown to match the wedding party. 

The lovebirds were married in front of a slew of celebrity guests, including Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, Eva Longoria and husband José Bastón, and fellow tennis star Caroline Wozniacki with her then-fiancé, NBA player David Lee.

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May 2018

Credit: TOBY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty

The pair dressed in their wedding best for the May 2018 nuptials of Williams' friend, Meghan Markle, to Prince Harry. 

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November 2018

"One year down a lifetime to go @alexisohanian," Williams wrote alongside a photo of the pair snuggled up on their first anniversary. 

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May 2019

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In 2019, the pair had date night at the Met Gala, of which Williams was co-chair. 

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November 2019

Credit: Noam Galai/GC Images

On the couple's second anniversary Williams wrote, "2 years and counting.... @alexisohanian is still putting up with me 🤪."

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January 2020

Credit: James D. Morgan/Getty

Ohanian, who is often spotted in the stand of Williams' matches, was there at the Australian Open in January 2020, looking on proudly as his wife played. 

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August 2020

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Now he has some company! Olympia joined her dad to watch her mom play at the Top Seed Open in Kentucky in August 2020.

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September 2020

In a clip from one of her matches at the U.S. Open, Williams waved to her daughter in the stands. 

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December 2020

In Decemeber 2020, Ohanian posted a sweet family photo to Instagram and captioned it, "Business Dad life never stops. Though sometimes it pauses for a family photo. Trying to do the best I can for these two."

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February 2021

Credit: Matt King/Getty

That's one supportive spouse! Ohanian cheered on his wife at the Australian Open in February 2021, sporting a shirt that made quite the statement. On it, a photo of Williams holding a tennis racket alongside the words "Greatest female athlete," with the word "female" crossed out. 

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February 2021

In another sweet show of support, Ohanian posted a clip from Williams' match on Feb. 12, 2021. In the video, he nodded sweetly to his wife and smiled at her as she played. "The universal gesture for You got this,'" Ohanian wrote alongisde the clip. "On to the next one @serenawilliams 👏 #AusOpen."

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By Andrea Wurzburger