Former tennis phenom turned podcaster Serena Williams has added another trophy to her massive collection. The retired tennis star has been awarded the 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Sports, given by Princess Leonor, the heir to the Spanish throne. The awards are a series of annual prizes for individuals and organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs. Given Williams’s 73 individual titles, as well as 23 doubles titles, two mixed doubles titles (both Grand Slams), four Olympic gold medals, and career Golden Slam, it’s no surprise she was chosen.
The ceremony will take place at the Campoamor Theater in Oveido, Spain on October 24th, 2025. Williams is expected to attend with her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their two children: Alexis Olympia, born on September 1, 2017, and Adira River, born on August 15, 2023. While Williams’s accomplishments on and off the court are well documented, some may be less familiar with her millionaire entrepreneur husband, who’s impressive in his own right.
Ohanian’s paternal grandparents came to the United States as refugees from the Armenian genocide. His mother, Anke, is German, and his father, Chris, was a travel agent and pharmaceutical technician. An only child, Ohanian’s parents moved to Maryland when he was a child and kept him tethered to his roots by sending him to Armenian summer camps. Even at a young age, Alexis was already showing promise as an entrepreneur. He was the commencement speaker at his high school, Howard High School in Ellicot, Maryland in 2001.
Ohanian has always been passionate about technology. At the University of Virginia, he began studying computer science, but soon after decided to major instead in business, history, and commerce. When he finished college, he and his college roommate, Steve Huffman, launched MyMobileMenu, a food delivery app. While MyMobileMenu didn’t take off, the pair eventually found massive success with their next idea—an online bulletin board which they named Reddit.com.
In 2006, Condé Nast, which also owns Vanity Fair, bought Reddit for an undisclosed sum between $10 and $20 million, and Ohanian continued on as a board member. In 2015, Ohanian and Huffman returned to Reddit to run it independently, but left the company in 2018 to focus on his work as an investor. In 2020, Ohanian resigned from the Reddit board, and requested to be replaced by a Black candidate in response to the murder of George Floyd. He was replaced by Black entrepreneur Michael Seibel.
Beyond Reddit, Ohanian has invested in other technology companies and founded more over the years as well. In 2020, he was the lead investor of the US National Women’s Soccer League and founded Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm that helps founders of technology companies grow their businesses. In May 2025, Ohanian bought a stake in Chelsea Women FC soccer team and sits on its board of directors.
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Ohanian met Williams in March 2015 at the Cavalieri Hilton Hotel in Rome, while the tennis player was participating in the Italian Open. Ohanian was at the same hotel giving a conference. According to People, they met for the first time in the hotel restaurant. She was having breakfast; he sat at the next table. Apparently, Williams’s team requested that Ohanian leave the tennis super star alone, but he stayed.
“This big guy comes, and he just plops down at the table next to us, and I’m like, ‘Huh! All these tables and he’s sitting here?’” Williams told Vanity Fair in her June 2017 cover story.
Later that year, they went on a date in Paris, where Ohanian flew to watch Williams play in the French Open. Before the tournament began, the pair traveled around the city together, visiting the Eiffel Tower, a zoo called La Ménagerie in the Jardin des Plantes and other sites. Williams would go on to win the match—and Ohanian’s heart.
Apparently, it was Ohanian’s deep knowledge and passion for Marvel comics and movies that won Williams over. “During dinner, he started talking about Iron Man and Marvel That’s how he touched my heart,” she recounted years later in her ESPN+ docuseries.
In December 2016, Ohanian surprised the tennis player with a trip to Rome. He proposed to Williams at the same table where they first met. A month later, the tennis player began to feel sick during a match and discovered that she was pregnant. (Don’t worry: she also won that tournament.) Alexis Olympia was born in September 2017.
After the birth of his daughter, Ohanian became an advocate for paternity leave and wrote an article about his experience in the New York Times. “After my wife nearly died in childbirth, I spent months at home taking care of my family,” he said. In June 2019, Ohanian announced plans to introduce a bill on Capitol Hill to push for passage of federal paid family leave legislation.
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Two months after Alexis Olympia’s birth, the couple tied the knot. Their Beauty and the Beast-inspired wedding was held on November 16, 2017 at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. Security was tight: guests could not bring cell phones into the venue. The guests at the reportedly $1 million wedding included a number of well-known faces including Beyoncé, Jay Z, Kim Kardashian, Meghan Markle, Eva Longoria and Anna Wintour.
The bride wore three dresses. The first, a gown by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, had a sweetheart neckline and an incredible tulle skirt accompanied by a veil and a light cape. She accompanied it with a classic bouquet of white roses and jewels valued at $3.5 million. For the reception, the tennis player wore a long, feathered Versace that fit her figure perfectly; for the party, she opted for another Versace design, short and strapless and also sporting feathers.
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“Alexis doesn’t take away my dreams,” she told Allure. “He puts me in the spotlight, even if I don’t want to. He pushes me to achieve goals I had never considered. Now I feel like I can shine brightly and still do everything I want to do.”
Original story appeared in VF España.
The post Inside Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian’s Love Story appeared first on Vanity Fair.
