"You need to tell me if I have stalkers" – Serena Williams recalls meet-cute encounter with her now husband Alexis Ohanian

Serena Williams, who has been promoting her new children’s storybook “The Adventures of Qai Qai” since her recent retirement, was a guest star on the Drew Barrymore show. Here, Williams divulged the details of her first meeting with her now husband Alexis Ohanian.

While speaking to Barrymore, Serena Williams recalled the moment she bumped into Alexis Ohanian in 2015, while she was competing at the Italian Open in Rome. The former World No. 1 revealed that she was at a restaurant before her match when Ohanian showed up and decided to sit at a table right next to that of Williams and her friends, despite the restaurant being mostly unoccupied. Williams admitted to getting annoyed by Ohanian’s close proximity and wanting him gone.

“So we were at this restaurant and, it was at the hotel we were staying at and I was in Italy and this guy shows up and the whole place is empty and this guy, like, really tall, he comes with his computer and he, like, plops down right next to us and he opens his computer and he starts typing, and I’m just like, why? I was so angry. I was like, why is this guy here? And so we tried to get rid of him,” she said.

The American icon revealed that she and her group tried to pull a prank on her now husband. He, however, remained unbothered.

“You know, my friend was like, listen, there’s a rat over there. He’s an Aussie, he was like ‘Oh my God! There’s a rat! (in Australian accent) and I’m like, ‘Ya there’s a rat!’ and Alexis looks and doesn’t flinch, and I’m like, ‘you’re not afraid of rats?’, and he’s like, ‘Umm no I’m form Brooklyn but is there even really a rat there?’ " she chuckled, "I guess he always knew I was full of stuff. And so then, that’s how we met. I was trying to get rid of him,”

Serena Williams further remembered meeting Alexis Ohanian again the very same day while leaving for home after playing her match in Rome. The 41-year-old revealed that her second encounter left her terrified as she mistook Ohanian for a stalker.

“I win the match, and I’m going home, and this guy gets in the car, and he’s like 6’ 5” and he’s big and I’m like, what is this guy getting in the car with us for? So I look over at my agent, I’m like, ‘Jill, what is this guy doing? Why do I have security? You need to tell me if I have stalkers!’"

"I need to know so that I can be prepared, you know? Like, if something happens, I want to be ready! And she’s like ‘no, no, no, that’s Alexis!’,” Williams narrated.

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Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian have been together since 2015

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian at the 2022 US Open

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian started dating in 2015, after they met at the aforementioned restaurant at the Cavalieri Hotel in Rome. The couple got engaged in December 2016 at the location of their first meeting.

They welcomed their daughter Olympia in September 2017 and in November 2017, two months after their daughter's birth, the couple tied the knot in New Orleans.