Serena Williams nearly ditched Alexis Ohanian after first date, thought Reddit was not real since there was no app

Serena Williams thought Alexis Ohanian
Serena Williams thought Alexis Ohanian's Reddit was not real as app was missing

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently revealed that when he met the tennis legend for the first time and told her about Reddit, she had a hard time believing him as she couldn't find an app for the website.

The former World No. 1 was in Rome in 2015 to participate in the Italian Open when she first interacted with the American entrepreneur, who was staying at the same hotel as Williams.

In December of 2016, Ohanian proposed to the 23-time Grand Slam champion at the same hotel in Rome. While Olympia was born on September 1, 2017, the couple tied the knot in November later that year.

39-year-old Ohanian co-founded Reddit in 2005 and sold it for $10 million to mass media company Conde Nast for $10 million in 2006. He returned to the social network as the executive chairman in 2014 but the company was still without an app.

In a recent conversation with Forbes, Ohania stated that as soon as he told Williams about Reddit, she reached to her phone to look for the app. Ohanian, embarrassingly, told her that there was none.

“She asked me what I did," Ohanian said. "I said I started and run this company called Reddit. She pretended like she knew of it but she didn't. She goes to her phone and searches the app store and she's like, 'How do you spell it?’ and I'm like ‘R-E-D-D-I-T.’ I'm sweating because I have to try to explain to her that we don't have an app."

The 41-year-old laughed and remarked that at the time, she thought Reddit was not real and that Ohanian might be bluffing.

“I was like, I haven't heard of it. And there's no app? It mustn't be real," Serena Williams said.

Reddit launched its app in April of 2016 and saw its user base grow to 430 million by December of 2019.


Serena Williams 'reunited' with Maria Sharapova

Serena Williams (L) and Maria Sharapova
Serena Williams (L) and Maria Sharapova

After running into each other at the Met Gala in New York in 2021, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova once again met at the Moncler Genius Fashion Show in London on Monday, February 20.

The five-time Grand Slam champion shared a photograph with the legendary player on her social media.

"Reunited," Sharapova posted on her Instagram stories.

While Sharapova retired from professional tennis in 2020, the 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams did the same last September at the US Open. The two players faced each other 22 times on the tour, with Williams leading the head-to-head record 20-2.

Is Serena Williams a Jehovah's Witness? Why American legend doesn't celebrate birthdays or Christmas

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