Serena Williams’ Entire Dating History, From Drake to Alexis Ohanian

La Var Arrington (2001-2002)

Serena Williams and LaVar Arrington did date for a few months back in 2001 after being pals for years prior. While his family denied they were dating at the time, but in a podcast called Penn State Pulse, he spilled the beans.

“I’ve always felt I needed to be respectful of the privacy of knowing her,” Arrington said. “Me and Serena at one point were probably like best friends. We ended up meeting at an ESPN commercial shoot. I had a thing for (Serena), I’ll admit that. I mean, who didn’t have a crush on Serena back then. Especially somebody like me, you’d have a crush. We were pretty close for like a few years. I’ve never said this out loud, but we actually dated. And we dated for a while. I’ve never really talked about, you know ‘why didn’t it work out’ or ‘why didn’t you guys stay together?’ We were young.”

Keyshawn Johnson (2002-2003)

Keyshawn Johnson and Williams dated from Oct 2002 to Feb 2003. The archived St. Petersburg Times article via Tennis Forum showed an interview with Johnson talking about his relationship with Williams.

“Everybody wants to know,” he said. “And I think because of who she is and who I am, and respect for her and respect for myself, we are leaving our relationship to ourselves. Not for public scrutiny or any of that. But they’re going to do it anyway.

He added, “The less people know about you, the better off you are. People digging through the trash can … you don’t need all that. Your personal life is your personal life, and from my standpoint, I’d just as soon people not get involved with my personal life. But being a public figure, I can’t stop that. And since she’s an international figure and in the United States, it’s very difficult for her. But she’s handled it well, at least I think so.”

Brett Ratner (2004-2006)

From 2004 to 2006, Williams dated director Brett Ratner. Not much is known about their private relationship, however, per Entertainment Now, they allegedly broke up because he “spent a week partying in New York” with Sean “P-Diddy” Combs, Jay-Z and Jermaine Dupri.

After they broke up, and when he was accused of sexual misconduct, a resurfaced video from Business Insider made the rounds, showing them having a fight while watching her sister Venus’ tennis match.

Jackie Long (2007-2008)

Not much is known about Jackie Long and Serena Williams’ relationship, but we do know that they dated from 2007 to 2008. 

Common (2007-2010)

Remember when Common and Williams dated? It all started when she appeared in his music video for “I Want You” back in 2007. They seemingly had a private relationship until 2010, but broke up around that year. They reconciled a month later, but broke up later that same year. 

However, Common has only spoken highly of Williams after their breakup. 

“Not every ex-girlfriend and I are still friends, but with some, I am,” he said during an interview with Meredith Vieira. “We got a great understanding, and I care about her as a person. It’s not like every other person you talk to every other day, but you know, you still have that respect. You have love for them and want to see them do well.”

Amar’e Stoudemire (2010)

The same year Williams and Common broke up, she and Amar’e Stoudemire dated, but only for a few months, per Basketball Network.

Grigor Dimitrov (2012)

Back in 2012, Williams was rumored to be dating tennis player Grigor Dimitrov. It all started with them looking cozy at the 2012 US Paris Open, per the New York Daily News.

Patrick Mouratoglou (2012-2015)

So, Williams allegedly dated coach Patrick Mouratoglou from 2012 to 2015. Like the rest of her relationships, Williams is always supremely private. There were many photos of them cozying up, per Sports Illustrated, but neither have ever commented on it to this day.

Drake (2011-2015)

Williams reportedly dated Drake before Williams married her now-husband, Alexis Ohanian. Williams and Drake reportedly dated on and off between 2011 and 2015.

“Serena briefly dated Drake around 2011 and even though it didn’t end that well, they have remained friends since,” an insider told Page Six in August 2024. Their romance may have only been a few months-long fling but the two were in each other’s lives for several years.

They were first linked in 2011 when Drake tweeted at her. Since then, he’s mentioned her numerous times in his songs. They were linked thorughout 2015, but seemingly stopped all contact after that year.

However, in case you missed it, Lamar sang his Grammy-winning Drake diss track “Not Like Us” during his Super Bowl Halftime show and had Williams come onto the stage with him to dance. 

Alexis Ohanian (2015-Present)

Williams met Ohanian back in 2015, during a chance meeting. They both sat down next to each other during breakfast at the Cavalieri Hotel in Rome, and sparks flew immediately. The two married in 2017 in New Orleans.

Williams gave birth to their daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr (better known as Olympia), born on Sept 2017, and later, another daughter named Adira River, born in Aug 2023.

She told People back in 2021, “I’ve been so focused on my career my whole life, but when I had a family and got married, I realized that there’s so much more to life. And that was great.”