Serena Williams being ‘ghosted’ in first relationship fueled tennis career: ‘He’s gonna regret this’

An ex-lover may have fueled the legendary career of Serena Williams. 

The tennis great recalled a relationship gone bad early in her career in an episode of ESPN’s new docuseries “In The Arena: Serena Williams,” which is airing on the network’s streaming platform. 

“It was the first relationship that I had ever had but I was in my 20s, so you know, whatever. That was that. And then I go home, and he ghosts me. I got ghosted,” Williams said. “And it wasn’t even that serious, but it was like, I used that and I made it way more serious than what it was.” 

Williams, who won 23 Grand Slam titles during her illustrious tennis career, took that as a reason to take her tennis game to an even higher level. 

“So when he ghosted me, I used that as an opportunity to say, ‘He’s gonna regret this for the rest of his life,’” Williams said. “That was just the motivation I needed, just the excuse I used to go the extra mile. I’m gonna make sure that this person never forgets me. I’m gonna make sure that this person sees me everywhere for the rest of their life.”

“I’m grateful for it, so thank you,” she said.

Williams’ love life — and tennis career, for that matter — have turned out just fine since the heartbreak she suffered roughly two decades ago. 

She married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017, a year and a half after the couple met in Rome. 

Williams and Ohanian share two daughters, Alexis Olympia, 6, and Adira River, whom the couple welcomed into their lives in August 2023. 

In August 2022, Williams announced she was retiring from the court, stating she was “evolving away from tennis” in a Vogue magazine article.

“I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me,” Williams wrote. “A few years ago I quietly started Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm.

“Soon after that, I started a family. I want to grow that family.”