Serena Williams dropped quite the bombshell on Thursday, announced her recent engagement
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian proposed to 22-time singles grand slam champion Serena Williams on Thursday, and the WTA star said yes. Both announced the engagement on—where else?—Reddit! With a very cute exchange between the two:
Serena Williams announced her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian with a poem on her Reddit account. pic.twitter.com/ftzwOEzgjl
— NBC Sports Bet (@NBCSportsBet) December 29, 2016
A spokesperson for Ohanian confirmed the engagement.
The pair were vacationing in Rome when the entrepreneur popped the question. Fitting since this is the city where they both met in in the fall of last year, shortly after Ms. Williams’ breakup with Drake.
Like much of her life off the court, Williams has kept the relationship private, but has dropped hints about the serious nature of her developing relationship with occasional Instagram posts. On Thursday, Williams and the New York native made it very public.
Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Williams has been previously linked to Patrick Mouratoglou (who still coaches her), and rappers Drake and Common.
Serena Williams is currently ranked No 2 and is training for the upcoming tennis season, most notably the first grand slam of 2017, the Australian Open, scheduled to begin play January 16. Williams equaled Stefi Graf’s incredible 22-grand slam record at Wimbledon (with a happy Ohanian looking on from the player’s box), and is looking to surpass it in the new year. Margaret Court still holds the biggest record with 24 slams. Williams is just two away from reaching that metric and three from besting it.
Several offered their congratulations to the happy couple.
https://twitter.com/WTA/status/814559883924303873
Congratulations to Serena Williams on her engagement to Reddit co-founder, Alexis Ohanian. We should be expecting new music from Drake soon.
— NUFF (@nuffsaidny) December 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/SimplyOloni/status/814568871231422464
The 35-year-old supplanted Maria Shaparapova as the highest paid athlete in the world earlier this year, according to Forbes Magazine. Serena Williams held the number one WTA ranking for 309 total weeks, tying Stefi Graf’s 186 cumulative weeks, until her streak was broken by German’s Angelique Kerber in September.
Although less known as the dominant athlete, Mr. Ohanian made a name for himself by founding the internet site Reddit 11 years ago along with Steve Huffman, his college roommate from the University of Virginia.
Ms. Williams will now have to find time to squeeze in a wedding date between slams.