Serena Williams‘ husband Alexis Ohanian wooed the tennis legend on their first date when he steered the conversation to one key topic: Marvel movies.
Williams, widely considered the greatest female tennis player of all time, first met Ohanian during the 2015 Italian Open before the Reddit co-founder proposed two years later.
The couple have been married since November 2017, one month after welcoming their first child – daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. They then had a second daughter – Adira River Ohanian – last August.
In the latest installment of her ESPN+ docuseries ‘In The Arena’, both Williams and Ohanian relived their memorable first date nine years ago, which saw the 23-time Grand Slam winner arrive with her agent and assistant.
Alexis described the evening as a ‘two hour interrogation’ before he managed to win Serena over by bringing up Marvel’s historic superhero franchise.
But the American entrepreneur and investor first said: ‘Serena, her assistant, her agent, and then me on the other said of the table, and they just bombarded me with questions.
‘It was like two hours of interrogation and questions. Do I have kids, am I married. Nothing was off limits.’
Williams referenced her current agent Jill Smoller and laughed: ‘Jill asked him straight up like, “What’s up with your girlfriend?” and he’s like, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
‘He was saying that he had broken up with her. It changed things when he said that because I was like, ok, now he’s not being this beast.’
She then added: ‘During dinner he started talking about Iron Man and Marvel, and that’s the way to my heart.’
Ohanian recalled: ‘This wasn’t just a superficial, “Hey I’ve watched a few movies.” This is, “I have deeply studied the text and I have strong opinions about this lore.”‘
Smoller, who also features in the docuseries, said: ‘It was so fascinating because they both loved the same thing. He was into sci-fi and cartoons and superheroes and I’m like… she can finally talk to someone who likes the things that she does.’
After sharing their love for superheroes and sci-fi on the date, Williams and Ohanian eventually got engaged in early January 2017.
Later that month the women’s tennis great claimed victory at the Australian Open while pregnant with their first daughter.
