It's Love-All for Serena Williams, Ben Shelton and More Tennis Stars

Serena Williams Officially Returning 4 Years After “Evolving Away From Tennis”

In tennis, love isn't always a good thing.

But off the court, Alexis Ohanian's support is the wind beneath wife Serena Williams' racket. "Alexis doesn't dim my light," the athlete, 44, explained to Allure in 2019. "He puts me in the light, even if I don't want to be. He pushes me to further points I never thought about."

So, yes, the Reddit cofounder—dad to her daughters Olympia, 8, and Adira, 2—will undoubtedly be in the stands at Wimbledon when his wife bounces back into action four years after telling Vogue she'd be "evolving away" from the sport.

Her 23 Grand Slam singles titles have already placed her firmly in the greatest-of-all-time conversation, but leave her just one victory shy of Margaret Court's record.

And she has hoisted the trophy at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club seven times, most recently in 2016.

She'll also be pulling double-duty while across the pond, playing doubles with older sis Venus Williams, who incidentally has scored a solid partner of her own.

"He really encouraged me to keep playing," the 46-year-old raved of then-fiancé Andrea Preti last July, speaking to The Tennis Letter after her victory at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. "There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill."

Because, as she noted, her sport of choice is "9 to 5, except you're running the whole time, lifting weights and just like dying and then you repeat it the next day." So it meant a lot that the Italian actor and producer she wed in December "encouraged me to get through this."

Of course, the Williams sister support section won't be the only happening spot when Wimbledon gets into full swing June 29.

As top-ranked men Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton hold court, they'll have their own personal MVPs in girlfriends Laila Hasanovic and Trinity Rodman. (Current No. 2 player Carlos Alcaraz, single after he was briefly linked to model Brooks Nader, is sidelined with a wrist injury.)

And to hear Shelton tell it, the professional soccer player is a key piece of his game plan. "I won a title at I think every tournament she's been at this year," he raved of U.S. women's national team standout Rodman as he celebrated his victory in the Stuttgart Open June 14. "You're definitely the good luck charm."

Before he and the other athletes try their luck at Wimbledon, we've got all the stats on their winning romances.