Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian have one of the most romantic engagement stories. They first met in 2015 when Williams was playing in Rome. While they were having breakfast in the same room, the American tennis legend invited him to join her friends over breakfast. Their bond slowly grew as they started talking. Additionally, Ohanian was often spotted cheering for Williams while she was playing. Eventually, the Reddit co-founder proposed to her. What was special was the place of the proposal. It was the same hotel where they had first met. Recently, Alexis Ohanian’s foundation’s director reminisced about the special moment from that engagement.
Lissie Garvin, 776 Foundation and Fellowship director, has had an integral role to play in the relationship between Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian. Here’s what she said about Alexis’ proposal.
Garvin first interviewed for an executive assistant role at Ohanian’s social media company, Reddit. However, Ohanian told Garvin that she would be working for his co-founder, Steve Huffman. Nonetheless, the two ended up working exclusively together and Garvin had a major part to play in Ohanian’s relationship with Serena Williams.
It was Garvin who organized their engagement trip to Rome when Alexis Ohanian decided to propose to Serena Williams. Later, she was there to capture the big moment of him proposing to the tennis legend. Recalling that moment, Garvin says, “I was literally, like, in the bushes.”
Alexis Ohanian’s sweet proposal would’ve made any girl in the world happy. However, Serena Williams was left angry following his proposal due to a bizarre reason.
Why was Serena Williams angry at Alexis Ohanian’s proposal?
Alexis Ohanian took Serena Williams on a trip to Rome in December 2016 for the surprise proposal. However, Williams was in the middle of her training season and was aiming to perform big at the Australian Open the following year.
Recalling why she was angry with Ohanian’s proposal, Serena Williams once said, “In fact, when he proposed, I was almost angry. Not almost, I was angry because it was right in the middle of my training season. I was like, I’ve got to win the Australian Open. I can’t fly to Rome because he wanted to take me to Rome.”
Nonetheless, that proposal remains one of the special moments in Serena Williams’ life which she would cherish throughout. Eventually, it didn’t affect her performance at the Australian Open, as she went on to win the title Down Under.
