“With a man, if I…

By Elsa Girard-Basset | Web journalist

When we think of women's tennis and its prestigious past, it is impossible not to mention Serena Williams. But if the American has become more and more present in the media since her retirement, there was a time when tennis came first for her – including her private life. This is what she explained, with a courageous confession about her sexuality, and which was surprising at the time.

The life of a tennis player is not really conducive to long-term relationships. Indeed, the champions of the yellow ball spend their year touring the world, from hotel to hotel, from country to country, from continent to continent. In this context, the idea is clear: what happens on the road stays on the road, and one-night stands are quite common. For some, at least, but not for Serena Williams.

Long discreet and modest about her private life, the one who won 23 Grand Slam tournaments nevertheless gave a major indication of her vision of things in the mid-2000s. And for her, far from the sex parties in the air which can sometimes take place on the road, it is on the contrary piety which takes precedence.

Serena Williams' secrets about her sexuality

In an interview with TV1 in 2005, the American, then aged 24, first shared her rather traditional views on her intimate life:

I've never slept with anyone. Of course, it's good to have experience, but that doesn't mean you have to start doing anything. With a man, if I don't think a future is possible with him, then I'm not going to waste my time having sex with him.

At the same time, the one who is a Jehovah's Witness, and very attached to her faith, confirmed that she was waiting until marriage to commit the carnal act:

I'm not perfect, sure, but I live by the rules of the Bible. So no, no sex before marriage.

At the time of this interview, some fans questioned the American's words, believing that she simply wanted to preserve a pious public image. Still, Williams, who was baptized in 2023, seems to have applied this precept at least to have children. Married on December 10, 2016 to Alexis Ohanian, she gave birth to a little girl in September 2017, about 9 months later.

A second child was added to the couple's happiness in 2023, and the two lovebirds are still in perfect love after almost a decade with the ring on their finger. Finally, let us remember that Venus Williams, raised according to the same principles, approaches her private life in the same way. But unlike her sister, she is still not married.

If the world tennis circuit is the occasion for many romances and more or less short-lived relationships between players, Serena Williams claims to have put her religion above all else. At least that's what she said in 2005, and only she knows if she stuck to this course of action until 2017. In any case, the ex-champion is now swimming in complete happiness with his family, and that is the main thing!