It’s hard not to love an adorable meet-cute story, learning about the moment sparks flew, or you believed the other person was “the one.” The presence of her assistant and agent, Jill Smoller, on Serena Williams’ first date with husband Alexis Ohanian could’ve put a damper on the evening. But the two shared so many similar interests that not even a third wheel could ruin their romance.
The Two Bonded Over Their Geeky Interests
Williams has been pretty open about her love of comics, telling The Run-Through with Vogue podcast, “I’ve been in love with the Marvel Universe for a very long time. ” She explained that she learned the backstories of her favorite films through the comics. So, when Ohanian revealed his love for Marvel, she was intrigued.
“During dinner he started talking, like, about “Iron Man” and stuff, and Marvel, and I’m obsess… that’s the way to my heart,” Serena admitted in ESPN’s “In the Arena: Serena Williams.” Ohanian remembered their conversation well. “Like, this wasn’t just a superficial, ‘Hey, I’ve watched a few movies,'” he said. “This is, like, ‘I have deeply studied the text, and I have strong opinions about this lore.'”
Even Moller was amazed at the connection she saw forming before her eyes. “It was so fascinating because they both loved the same things,” She recalled. “Like, he was into sci-fi and cartoons, and superheroes. I’m like, ‘Jesus, she can finally talk to someone who likes the things that she does.'”
Their First Date Was Unusual
Williams and Ohanian first crossed paths in Rome, and their initial meeting was definitely not the meet-cute moment you’d expect. “This big guy comes and just plops down at the table next to us, and I’m like, ‘Huh! All these tables and he’s sitting here?'” Serena told Vanity Fair. After she and her friends tried to scare him off, she invited him to their table.
A short time later, he came to Paris to see her play and asked to take her to dinner. Her response? “Okay, but I’m gonna bring my agent and my assistant.” Her assistant and Moller grilled him for two hours.
“Jill[Moller] asked him straight up like, ‘What’s up with your girlfriend?’ and he’s like, ‘I don’t have a girlfriend,'” Williams said. “He was saying that he had broken up with her. It changed things when he said that because I was like, okay, now he’s not being this beast.” Williams could finally start to relax and let her guard down.
Ohanian lived through the interrogation and convinced Williams to go out with him alone. After a six-hour date walking around Paris together, they knew they had found someone special. A year and a half later, Alexis took her back to where it all began in Rome, and proposed. “I felt like a door had been opened to a person who made me want to be my best self,” he said. “I find myself just wanting to be better by simply being around her because of the standard she holds.”
