Serena Williams, the American professional tennis player, has the record for most Grand Slam titles in doubles, singles and mixed doubles. Her records are definitely impressive, as she’s held the number one spot in the sport on many occasions, totalling 319 weeks at the top ranking position. Her style of play is forceful and aggressive and gives her the overall edge most times out. She’s been playing professionally since 1995, when she was only 14 years old, and is still active to this day. Her sister Venus is also a fierce competitor and the two teamed up early in 2018, but unfortunately lost. Regardless, Serena’s storied past on the court is definitely an interesting and successful one and definitely one for the books.

Alexis Ohanian is an American internet mogul, having made his millions online with the internet company: Reddit. He is co-founder of the site and is responsible for many other internet sites. He was referred to by a representative of Forbes as “The Mayor of The Internet” in 2012, and that’s saying something, seeing that many men including Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, have made their fortunes on the World Wide Web.

The two started a relationship and were engaged in 2016 and later married in 2017. Their lives like many other people in the limelight have been made public and it seemingly hasn’t always been easy, as you will soon read. Here are 15 things about their relationship you may not have known.

15 Awkward Beginnings

So many celebs both in the film and television world and in the sports world have great stories about how they first met—really romantic epics that they can tell the press and their friends for years to come.

But that isn’t the case for Serena Williams and her husband, Alexis Ohanian. As it turns out, the two met poolside at a hotel at some point in 2015. When Ohanian showed up poolside, there were tons of places to sit, but he chose to sit next to where Williams was breakfasting with her entourage. At first, Williams was turned off, wanting her privacy, but as the two started to talk, his charm won her over and she invited him over … a sure sign that his daring nature had done the trick.

14 Who Are You?

As it turns out, the two had no idea who the other was when they first met, which is saying something, seeing that Williams was at the top of her sport and Ohanian was at the top of the internet mogul world at that time… so they must have been living under two rather large respective rocks , and for a seemingly long time to not have heard of each other.

But they came together regardless, and finding out about each other’s careers just became a part of the “getting to know each other” process. Imagine his surprise when the cute girl he noticed from across the pool turned out to be Serena Williams—tennis pro and champion! And equally shocking… imagine Serena’s surprise when the awkward poolside lurker turned out to be… well, you catch our drift.

13 Her Romantic Past

Alexis Ohanian isn’t the first public figure she had been linked with. In the past, she had been known to have dated Drake and Common, both famous in their own right and rappers and/or musical artists with many albums to their respective names. The two are definitely a far cry from what she ended up with and can be considered controversial and have a following in the public eye that isn’t always favourable… especially when you consider Drake, who has had a lot of negative press over the years.

Common is far calmer and seems to be a little more serious about maintaining a clean image, but still, things didn’t work out between he and Serena as well, leading her to fall for Ohanian.

12 Pretty Quick Work

Their courtship wasn’t very long by today’s standards, and they weren’t engaged for all that long. They met in 2015 and were married in 2017. This brings up the question: how sure were they when they walked down the aisle? Turns out quite sure, seeing that she had just given birth to their child a few months prior to their wedding on September 1st. The couple married in November… on the 16^th to be precise, and their little one, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, was present for the festivities.

The location for the couple’s nuptials was in New Orleans and the wedding was a glorious event, of which they shared the photographs with the press so Serena’s fans and Alexis’ followers could share in the joyous event.

11 It's A Secret

The press can definitely be a factor in how a couple consisting of two very public figures approach their relationship. It isn’t the first time we’ve heard that a celebrity couple has had to hide from the press and keep their relationships a secret. It has indeed happened many times, and no doubt it will happen again and again.

As was the case for these two, as the first 15 months of their union or so was kept under wraps by one and all, including everyone around them. It has been reported that Ohanian hinted to the fact that the two were together every now and again on the social media platform, but Serena kept it all under wraps and for a long time. They finally made an announcement for their engagement in 2016.

10 Themed Wedding

What is it with celebrities and themed weddings? Can’t people just get married the old fashioned way anymore? We guess not, and Serena and Alexis joined the ranks of celebs that had weirdly themed weddings. As it turned out, they decided to go for a hugely ostentatious display and have a Disney-themed wedding. You read right … they stuck to a Beauty and The Beast theme for the wedding, even playing music from the famed film. The décor was also in the same vain and apparently, they even asked guests to dress accordingly.

Wow! But hey, to each his own. We’re sure some of you Sportster Readers out there would love to have a Wrestling themed wedding, or a Super Bowl Party Wedding. Just imagine. Now all you need to do is convince the fiancé.

9 He Is In Awe Of Her

For love to truly work, it isn’t any wonder that each participant in that union has to think well of the other… otherwise, that relationship is doomed from the get-go. This is and should be common knowledge, although it isn’t always the case as can be seen in some relationships; especially the public ones.

Well, as in the case for Alexis and Serena, she found herself a man that undoubtedly adores her in every sense of the term and he is in awe of all her accomplishments and who she is as a person. Here’s a portion of his wedding vows that prove just that: “… You are the greatest of all time, not just in sport … talking about as a mother and as a wife. I am so excited to write so many more chapters of our fairy tale together…”

8 A Pretty Public Surprise

Well… to say their pregnancy was unplanned would be an understatement, and the two are surely not shy about letting the world know that their pregnancy was unplanned. Serena had been preparing for Wimbledon and just a few weeks shy of the Australian Open, she felt a little under the weather. She finally decided to take a pregnancy test and when it came up positive, she was reluctant to believe it. She told Vanity Fair that she took the test again and again, totalling a whopping five times, and it came up positive every time. Indeed, she was going to be a mom, and now she had to tell her fiancé. Well, he was shocked too, as were their scores of fans and followers, but it turned out for the best in the end.

7 Good Clean Fun

What is a relationship without its fun times? It would be pretty boring we would imagine. Well, sources close to the couple have stated that the two love to have their fun, but as it turns out, it’s all pretty clean and wholesome.

What more would you expect from a very serious athlete and a computer industry genius and mogul? They love having get-togethers with loved ones and they especially love going to movies. Apparently, soon after the baby was born and Serena was given a clean bill of health after her health scare, the three went out to watch the latest Thor film, and yes, they brought a pair of earmuffs to protect the infant’s ears. Apparently Alexis had actually rented out the whole theatre for the occasion.

6  Haters Beware

That’s the thing about social media… it isn’t only the fans that’ll be watching what you post. In fact, studies have shown that haters are more likely to follow someone, ultimately looking for ammo when attacking a certain star or celebrity. So was the case for Serena Williams when certain photos of the two were posted on social media, haters couldn’t wait to slam the tennis hero, claiming that she had gained too much weight, even making racial slurs and derogatory comments about the couple’s mixed race.

But before the star could defend herself, her fans came to the rescue and started an all-out assault on all haters. Now that’s an impressive fan base. Serena was moved and thanked her fans for the support.

5 They Truly Are Very Much In Love

Anyone close to the couple has said that the two are extremely very much in love, as their wedding vows have shown. They have also publicly claimed their love and the press have eaten the comments up, releasing the statements over and over again, and not to mention that the couple have shared some of their quirkiest and most loveable moments on social media for all their followers to see.

It truly is a wonderful thing to see; especially during such tumultuous times in the media and is refreshing to say the least. She has said of her husband: “He is my rock … my backbone …” He has said of her: “ … I didn't even realize it, but I was waiting for this moment….I am so grateful, and I am so in love …” Love is in the air, indeed.

4 Supportive Husband

When Serena returned to the courts in 2017 and in 2018, Alexis was by her side and showed his wife support in every way. He even put up billboards promoting her big return. To the outsider, it would seem weird that he had the time to be there for his wife, seeing that he has a multi-million dollar business to run, but that’s the beauty of money … it buys you time.

So when she was training for a return and as she played her matches, there he was, with their daughter in his arms, and the two of them cheered her Mommy on and it brings up the old term: “Mr. Mom,” doesn’t it? But no, all kidding aside, it was nice and refreshing to see, although Serena didn’t win her much anticipated return, but hey, can’t win them all now can you?

3 She's Inspired Him To Keep Fit

Spending your day at your computer trying to figure out new ways to make the internet better doesn’t really inspire the fittest life possible. And when the two first met, he wasn’t what you could call a Greek god. However, as the two dated and as their lives together have grown, he too has turned to a more active lifestyle.

Images of him hefting the weights and even sporting a set of chains on his shoulders show that he’s gotten rather serious about his physical fitness and he’s all the better for it. Having an athlete for a wife most definitely comes in handy when inspiration is lagging now isn’t it? Granted… the chains are a bit much and the weights do look a little light, but we can applaud his newfound drive.

2 Health Scares At An Otherwise Joyous Time

It has been reported that Serena suffered greatly at the time of her delivery in early September of 2017. While giving birth, she suffered an irregular heart-beat forcing medical staff to switch to a C-Section mode of child birth. After the birth, doctors further found blood clots in her lungs and she ended up tearing her birthing scars in tumultuous coughing fits. Not only that, the medical staff at hospital found a massive hematoma in her stomach of all places.

In the weeks to come, she made a full recovery, but was unable to do much for her newborn daughter, as she was ordered to rest by her doctors. But, Alexis was there to do all the diaper changing and really came through in her time of need.

1 Goal-Oriented

Also what’s very different about these two is that they are very goal oriented. That’s not really hard to understand considering their backgrounds and the success each of them have achieved. In fact, why wouldn’t they be goal setters when it came to their relationship as well? Whatever works, right?

As far as their careers are concerned... neither of them seem to be slowing down. What’s next for them, only time will tell, but thus far they’ve done a bang up job of staying together and planning ahead and all we can do is cheer them on and watch their story unfold, but something tells us, they’ll be all right; as long as they stick to those goals of theirs.