Years After Ex-BF Tore Her Heart, Serena Williams Reveals Petty Revenge Tale of Channeling Trauma to Wimbledon Glory

Serena Williams‘ chemistry with Alexis Ohanian is one that can’t be made in labs! While the sports world doesn’t often see success stories like theirs, it took Williams precious time and people with whom she had a disconnect to get here. However, before Ohanian even entered Serena’s life, there was another face that the American begrudgingly thanked, even after years of breaking up with him.

Serena Williams’ docuseries has taken over social media, with the premier of ‘In the Arena: Serena Williams’ already having taken place at Tribeca. When promoting the series, Access Hollywood asked Williams whether it was true that she thanked her first-ever boyfriend in the docuseries. The retired pro, who seems reluctant to answer at first, admits, “I mean yeah I did thank him but it was a joke,” mentioning that it wasn’t actually a generous thank you.

This incident likely points back to the year 2002 when Serena Williams was beginning to prove that she was not an ordinary player. While the former pro was rumored to be dating Washington Redskins’ then-linebacker LaVar Arrington back then, the separation from him made her gain a motivation that helped her secure massive feats.

Continuing to explain what made her give out this regard to her first boyfriend, Williams added, “I’m one of those athletes that really just need an excuse to win so I talked about this in the docuseries and then I talk about how I used that break up as like a reason to just be great. I pushed me forward and then I was like Thank You.”

Starting from the French Open title in the same year, Serena secured a thrilling win at Roland Garros where she took down her sister Venus for the second major title. Continuing her lead, the former pro stunned the sporting world by becoming the champion at Wimbledon, US Open, and then again at the Australian Open 2003.

While it was a push that helped her secure massive feats, the former pro decided not to see it as a harsh memory but as something that happened for good. For the fans intrigued enough to find out more about Serena’s breakup, she took a moment in the past to give out the details of it.

Serena Williams explains her productive heartbreak

“I cry a lot but I am so productive, it’s an art” might be a 2024 lyric from the queen of heartbreak anthems but Serena Williams has been exploring it since the beginning. Her unparalleled lead was an engaging movie-like story, with fans curious to hear about what exactly the legend felt when she parted ways with her first boyfriend.

“This guy tore my heart in half. Then he ripped those pieces and stepped on them and backed his car up over them. And the worst part was he left me thinking it was me,” she reportedly revealed in an interview back in 2009. Mentioning how she decided to turn the terrible incident into her armor to show her dominance to the world, the former pro added, “I decided tennis would be my salvation. I wanted So-and-So to regret how he treated me. I wanted him to see me everywhere.”

Serena Williams’ story of attaining glory came out to be a hit. While this shows the absolute control the former pro had on her emotions, it is surely one of the lessons that the world should learn from her journey.