In the Arena: Serena Williams (2024) s01e07 Episode Script

1
[Serena Williams]
My relationship with tennis
is a love/hate relationship.
I absolutely love playing tennis.
It seems a little bit like a dream.
Like, is this really my life?
The best place to be
is walking in front of a crowd.
-[announcer] Serena Williams!
-[crowd cheers]
[Serena] Everyone's
clapping and roaring,
and it's such an amazing,
awesome experience.
[crowd cheering]
But at the same time,
it takes away so much from your life.
It definitely can be lonely at the top.
And particular to tennis,
people don't realize
how many hours you spend by yourself.
So much so that it was hard for me
in a relationship,
because I'm, like,
so used to being alone.
And it's worth the cost,
but there's always a trade-off.
[theme music playing]
Good morning. This is Lexis.
She is three years old.
-[young Serena] I'm three years old.
-[both laugh]
[Serena] Growing up,
I've always wanted to get married
and I've always wanted to have kids.
It was always my goal.
I used to always play with my dolls.
They were always getting married.
[laughs] And I didn't have
a lot of dolls,
so I would break off the arms
and the legs of some dolls,
and the arm would get married
to the leg or whatever.
I have always had
long distance relationships,
and I think the fact
that I travel so much in tennis
and that one day you're in Australia,
the next day you're in India
or somewhere insane,
I think that it definitely
is not easy to have a relationship.
But at the same time,
I kind of liked that
'cause I love my space, you know?
I love being distant,
and I am definitely an avoidant.
[birds squawking]
In 2015, I was living
in a house with Venus.
If people wanna hit and dance, okay
I don't wanna waste ♪
[Serena] We're both in our thirties
and we had the ultimate bachelorette pad
and it was so fun.
And we would go to Miami
and we would stay up all night.
Put 'em in your place ♪
[Jill Smoller] I always say I did some
of my best agenting during those years.
But what I learned is that the best way
for her to deal with pressure
and not feel it was if you have chaos.
She played her best
when she had other things to worry about
other than history and title
and must-win.
It was a great time.
Especially growing up in tennis,
you really don't have a lot of moments
to just be a normal person.
And we kind of, like,
had our normalness as best as we could,
and we had a blast.
I wasn't looking to get married.
I wasn't looking for anything.
I was just, you know,
living my best life.
[laughs]
I'm Alexis Ohanian.
For a long time
I was known as the creator of Reddit.
And I'm the husband of Serena Williams,
which is why
you're interviewing me right now.
[dramatic music playing]
So May 12th, 2015, I'm in Rome.
It's this Festival of Media.
[Serena] We were in Rome,
and I didn't really
want to play Rome that year
because it was just, like,
I wanted just to get ready
for the French Open,
and I was just exhausted.
[reporter] Welcome to day two
of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
The WTA tennis stars are here
and ready to hit the court in Rome.
When I play tennis,
I usually never leave my room.
It's so extreme as to a point
where I don't even go downstairs
and eat breakfast at the buffet.
I order room service.
I never leave my room
until it's time to go to the tennis.
And I was going back and forth,
like, do I focus, do I go downstairs?
Finally I'm, like, I'll go downstairs.
-[alarm beeps]
-[Alexis] I sleep in the next morning,
and I'm addicted to coffee,
so first thing, I get up,
I go downstairs,
I ask, "Can I get some coffee?"
Unfortunately
The breakfast area was closed,
so they said
you can eat breakfast at the pool.
[whimsical music playing]
There was not another person
in the restaurant,
and it was just us
and we had a bunch of tables.
And then in walks this guy,
this really tall guy.
And I just grab a seat.
I don't care where I'm sitting.
There's a bunch of tables open.
I take out my laptop and I get to work.
He sits down to the table next to us
that I was, in my mind,
thinking was gonna be
for the rest of our team.
And she was like, "Ugh.
"Like, the whole place is empty,
and this guy's sitting here?"
We're talking about him,
like, under our breaths.
But we're just, like, "Ugh.
How do we get this guy to go away?"
And not long thereafter,
this Australian voice calls out,
[in Australian accent] "Hey, mate,
there's a rat at your table."
And we all pretended to get up,
and Alexis didn't move.
He's, like, "Is there really a rat?
"'Cause I'm from Brooklyn
and I'm not afraid of rats."
But the woman next to him turns around,
and she's, like
"We were kind of saving that table
for someone else."
I'm, like, oh, it's Serena Williams.
What are the odds?
Basically he was, like,
"I'm not moving."
And I was thinking, "Ugh."
And he's just, like, on his computer
typing and typing and typing.
I'm just, like,
"Oh, my God, this guy is so annoying."
Anyway, I'm, like,
"Okay, so what are you doing here?"
"Are you here for the tech conference?"
It was probably the laptop
that made it obvious
I was here for the tech conference.
And I said, "Yes."
She asked me
who I was here to see speak.
I said, "No one. I'm speaking."
She asked why I was speaking,
what my company was. I said, "Reddit."
I had never heard of Reddit
'cause, you know,
they were skewing
towards a different audience, I'll say,
-to be nice.
-[chime dings]
[laughs]
I was, like, "Oh, I love that website.
It's so cool."
She pretended like
she knew what Reddit was. She didn't.
And he said,
"Oh, yeah, what's your favorite?"
And I was, like, uh
"The Reddit." [laughs]
I don't really give my number out,
and so I was, like,
"Let me take your number."
We had started
talking about investments.
I think she asked for my number
in the context of discussing,
like, tech investing or tech stuff
that she was thinking about,
which I think she maintains
to this day was genuine.
Like, it was platonic at that point.
Then Serena went up
to prepare for her match,
and invited him to the match.
And again, I'm thinking, like,
"God, I hate tennis."
I've never watched it.
I have no interest.
But you get an invite to see
Serena Williams play a tennis match,
of course you're gonna do it.
I was very aware that this is
the greatest tennis player, right?
I knew that.
But I had just no interest in the sport.
[linesman] Out!
[Alexis] But it was really interesting.
As I'm watching her play,
I was blown away.
This is a way more intense sport
than I ever realized,
physically and mentally.
[grunts]
[crowd gasping]
[commentator] What great tennis
at the end especially,
but it is Serena Williams
making it to round three.
I was sitting with a friend of hers.
After, she was, like, "Oh, you should
come back with us. We've got a car."
So I'm, like, "Sure."
And this big guy gets in the car,
and he gets in the front seat.
And I look at Jill sitting next to me,
"Jill, why do we have security?
And at this point,
I go from being really happy
to being really angry,
because I'm, like,
"How many times
are you gonna hide stalkers from me?
"Why do we have to have extra security?"
I'm, like, "Security?
"That the dude from brunch.
He came to your match."
And she was, like
[gasps] "Oh, my God."
And then we got home. She's, like,
"I don't wanna have dinner."
I was tired and I had
a new match the next day,
so I was just, like,
"Oh, whatever. We'll see."
We talked about maybe meeting up,
but I had some plans, buh-buh-buh.
It just didn't happen.
[gentle music playing]
I flew back thinking that was fun,
and I have zero expectations
of seeing any of those humans ever again
and that's cool.
[keyboard clicking]
I feel like we exchanged
some nice messages, maybe mildly flirty,
and at some point she mentioned
being a little dinged up,
not playing at her best,
wanting me to see her play in Paris.
And then I was, like, "Great."
She told me later
that this was an LA invite,
which means, it's not a real invitation.
It's something you say in passing,
but you don't really mean it,
and I didn't mean it at all.
You know, he was, like,
"I'm coming. I'll be there."
And I was, like, "Oh, this is weird."
I definitely
didn't expect him to say that
'cause I wasn't thinking like that.
But then I'm not silly.
I also knew that the conversation
had turned a little bit to more, like,
"Oh, I'm kind of into you maybe?"
[Alexis] And I said to myself,
worst case scenario,
I'm gonna have a great story
of how Serena Williams invited me out
to see a match at the French Open,
and then totally ignored me.
I did blow him off for a few days
because I was, like, this guy's weird
coming all the way to Paris.
Eventually she came around.
Because I was, like,
"Let me take you to dinner."
And she was, like, "Okay,
"but I'm gonna bring
my agent and my assistant."
[whimsical music playing]
And I thought, "All right,
this is some Hollywood stuff."
Fine. You don't know who I am.
I'm a big dude.
Like, I might be nuts,
so you bring backup.
I'm, like, what are we doing?
Why are we on this date with you?
But it was, like, a comfort level.
I was, like, I don't really
wanna go to dinner with this guy
because I went on his Instagram
and he had pictures,
of, like, someone else.
And I was, like, "Oh, my God, this guy
has a girlfriend. What a sleaze bag."
It was like an interview panel,
because it was the three of them,
Serena, her assistant, her agent,
and then me
on the other side of the table.
And they just bombarded me
with questions.
Yeah, I totally tried
to get the book on him right away.
Jill asked him straight out, like,
"What's up with your girlfriend?"
And he was, like,
"I don't have a girlfriend."
He was saying he had broken up with her.
It changed things when he said that,
because I was, like,
"Okay, now he's not being this beast."
[laughs]
[exhales] It was, like, two hours
of interrogation and questions.
Do I have kids? Am I married?
All this
Like, nothing was off limits.
During dinner, he started talking, like,
about Iron Man and stuff and Marvel,
and that's the way to my heart.
Like, this wasn't just a superficial,
like, "Hey, I've watched a few movies."
This is, like,
"I have deeply studied the text,
"and I have strong opinions
[chuckles] about this lore."
I mean, it was so fascinating
because they both loved the same things.
Like, he was into sci-fi
and cartoons and superheroes.
I'm, like, "Jesus, she finally
can talk to someone
"who likes the things that she does."
And I guess I passed the test,
so that the next day I texted her.
I was, like, "Last night was fun,
but I'm gonna pick you up.
"We're gonna spend the day together
in Paris, and it's just gonna be us."
[reporter] And bonjour
from this beautiful backdrop.
In the long sporting history of Paris,
they've never seen
a quarter final match
[Jill] Most of the time
during Grand Slams,
tension starts to ratchet up
and her mood switches
and she tends to insulate.
So she didn't used to go around,
go to museums, do fun things.
She'd go to the courts from 7:00 to 9:00
or from 8:00 to 10:00,
practice, and then
be in the hotel all day,
either watching Little Mermaid
or cartoons or tennis film.
Usually I just sit and do nothing.
So I had all this time on my hands.
It's, like, what am I gonna do?
And I told Serena, I was, like,
"Hey, let's just not have a date.
"Let's just walk around."
You know,
Paris is a city she's been to for,
at that point,
probably a couple decades.
But who she is means
having a nice day just wandering around,
going to the market, getting a coffee,
wasn't very easy.
And so I got to expose her to a thing
that I genuinely loved
and frankly took for granted.
[Serena] We had lunch,
and then, you know,
I had on my little disguise
so people wouldn't over-recognize me.
I was very much a fame-antidote
because we're walking around Paris,
and these French people would be, like,
[in French accent]
"Is it Serena Williams?"
[in normal voice]
Then they'd look at me and be,
[in French accent]
"Impossible. No, definitely not."
[romantic music playing]
[Alexis in normal voice] The entire day
we just meandered around Paris.
[Serena] It's kind of like
out of a movie.
Instead of Emily In Paris,
it was more just, like, Serena In Paris.
Everything we did was just so fun
and we had great conversations.
And we were in an Uber on the way back,
I saw a sign that said, "Zoo."
And I was, like,
"Zoo in the middle of Paris?"
I've been to Paris a hundred times.
I never saw this zoo.
And I was, like,
"Let's stop the car, stop the car."
[growling]
[hooting]
[Alexis] We went to the zoo.
There was this beautiful snow leopard.
And so this leopard, it's feeding time,
and there's a dead rabbit
that gets chucked into this leopard,
and this leopard rips it in half.
Blood everywhere.
And everyone in the crowd gasps,
including Serena.
And at this point, I comfort her.
"It's all right, baby.
"Don't worry. It's fine."
[laughs]
Yeah, and [laughs]
I was, like, oh, wow.
"Thank you, snow leopard."
It was honestly
a really awesome, fun day,
and it was like Cinderella at one point
because it was, like,
"Oh, my God, it's 6:00, 7:00.
"I gotta go
'cause I have to train in the morning."
And I, for the first time,
understood how Cinderella felt
when she was at the ball.
[clock dinging]
[Fairy Godmother]
The spell will be broken
as soon as the clock strikes 12:00.
[Alexis] I brought her back
to her apartment.
Kissed her goodbye.
She did a little pirouette.
And I was, like, all right.
Like, I think there's something here.
We had such an amazing time in Paris,
it was, like, you know, we gotta,
see if this is something,
you know, or not.
[Jill] It was so great
having someone in her universe
who had so little to do
with what she did
and didn't really have
that much of an awareness about her.
They came from such different worlds.
We all now take for granted the role
that technology and the Internet,
in particular, plays in our lives.
I'm really into just continuing
to be the greatest champion
that I can be.
What a lot of these companies are doing,
though, really is transformational.
[commentator] Serena Williams
is Wimbledon champion
for the sixth time.
She's a Grand Slam champion
for the 21st time.
One more to equal Steffi Graf,
two more to eclipse her.
[Jill] He would come travel with her
two, three weeks for Grand Slams.
Do his meetings, stay up all night.
He was incredibly supportive.
I think the hardest part
is with two incredibly intense, driven,
success-oriented people,
finding and holding space
for us to be a couple together.
[Jill] You have to be with someone
who's secure enough
that they let light shine on you.
You know, she takes up a lot of space
and a lot of light.
[screaming] We love you, Serena!
Yes, Black girl magic!
I just came out of a meeting,
and look at that.
One of the best lessons I've gotten
from, still getting from her,
is seeing how well
she can actually turn off.
Meow, meow.
[Alexis] The nature of tennis life
is intense stress.
-[grunts]
-Aah!
[cheering and applause]
And then intense ennui and boredom,
because you're back at the hotel room
and you're just sitting there
and you're recovering,
you're getting treatment.
You're just decompressing, right?
And so that follows this intense path,
whereas I'm like this the whole time.
And the hard part for me
is actually turning that switch off,
because I could just go.
But the pressure of what she has to do
is so, so, so, so great
that's she's gotta figure out
how to turn it off,
and she's gotten amazing at it.
Okay, so we're shopping for bikes,
and what is this?
Taco Bell. [laughs]
I'm done with you.
[Serena] When I show up at a tournament,
all eyes are on me,
and everyone expects me to win,
and there's so much pressure
and there's so much press,
and there's so much everything.
It's like so much all on Serena.
Most of the time during Grand Slams,
she becomes somewhat diabolical,
and you always know it's coming.
Um, it's 11:30.
To be perfectly honest with you,
I don't wanna be here.
[people chuckle]
I just wanna be in bed right now,
and I have to wake up early to practice.
And I don't wanna answer
any of these questions,
and you guys keep asking me
the same questions, so
I remember telling him early on,
like, "Let me explain something to you.
"Three weeks at a time
"four times a year,
"your life is gonna be hell."
[crowd cheering]
"'Cause the tension starts to ratchet up
and her mood switches
"and she tends to insulate."
[Alexis] I know for those three weeks
four times a year
my job is to just be there
in whatever capacity she needs.
And so you're constantly trying to find
the equilibrium between the two of y'all
while each of you navigate
your own professional lives
as well as personal shit.
I'm definitely not
the easiest person to date.
I'm not looking
at the beginning of my career.
I don't have another ten years
to play at the time, you know.
It was like every Grand Slam counts.
[reporter] Here we are 20 years on
with Serena once again
trying to equal Steffi's tally
of 22 Grand Slam victories.
And standing in her way
[Alexis] I think one
of the most appealing things
about this relationship
was being with someone
who has obviously had to be
so incredibly driven and committed.
Because I've had trouble in the past
where that mismatch causes friction.
[grunts]
And so what it took was someone who
I knew I would never possibly outgrow.
She just understood in a deeper way
than I ever could what it takes.
[commentator] Magnificent cross court
from Williams.
[Jill] I think she is obsessed
with winning.
She's so competitive.
[grunts]
[commentator] There we are!
It's Serena Williams again!
Fourteen years
after that first victory here,
Grand Slam number 22.
[Alexis] When I finds other humans
who I feel can challenge me,
bring out the best in me, motivate me,
inspire me for whatever reasons,
they're people
I wanna keep closer to me.
And then when you find that in someone,
you know, you're also romantically into
and enjoy spending time with,
and can imagine
making a family with, et cetera,
it's almost a no-brainer.
[whimsical music playing]
[Alexis] My original plan
was to have a layover in Rome,
which was plausible
because she had an exhibition
she was gonna play in India.
I had Jill in on it, of course.
What we'll do is
I'm gonna tell her on the way home
we're gonna be stopping in Rome
for a meeting.
[Alexis] The whole thing
was pretty flimsy,
and three weeks before the flight,
all of a sudden
the exhibition was canceled.
And I'm, like, "We're dead."
So now we have no reason to go to India,
and thus, no reason to stop in Rome.
And so I was, like,
"Whew. I can just stay home.
So I flew from Los Angeles.
I got to the house.
And she's, like,
"You gotta get on the plane to Italy."
And I was, like,
"I don't wanna go to Italy, you know."
It's, like,
the flight was, like, in two hours.
[laughs]
She went crazy. She's, like,
"I'm not going. I have to train."
I get it. That's the right answer.
But I really needed her
to get on this plane.
[PA dings]
[phone line rings]
She tried to call me
while I was in the air,
and so all of those calls
went directly to voicemail.
And I'm that girl that'll call you,
like, 50 times in a row.
Guilty. That's me.
And then I land.
I see all these missed calls
or voicemails or all the things.
I'm just, like,
"Oh, damn it. This is bad."
By the time she landed in Rome,
she had ample time to think about
what the hell was gonna happen.
I started to put two and two together,
and I was, like
"Oh, okay.
I know what this guy's doing."
I think she was scared.
I was nervous. You know,
I've been living my whole life
with my sister in our house together.
I have a lot of freedom, you know.
I didn't want any of that to change.
But at the same time,
I also, since I was a young girl,
also had dreams of, like,
having a family and being married.
[giggling and laughing]
And, you know,
I was in love with this guy
that I had randomly met
and tried to get rid of
on many occasions.
So it was weird.
It was, like, "Okay, Serena.
Is this something that you want?
"Because there's
no turning back from this."
And I just took some time
to kind of meditate
and think about
what I wanted my future to be.
[Jill] She went down to the gym.
She did a sauna. She did a steam.
Then she came up
and she got in the bathtub.
And then she just made him wait
and wait and wait and wait.
And it was hours.
And then finally she was ready.
We worked with the hotel
to just block off everything
down where we met.
[Serena] When I walked downstairs,
there was red flower petals everywhere
and they all led to the table
that we had sat at.
And there was a rat
sitting on the table.
It was a fake rat,
but it was sitting on the table.
And Alexis was there,
and he had on a suit.
[Alexis] And I just
get down on one knee.
I say something really romantic.
She says, "Oh, my God, yes."
Put the ring on, there's kissing.
Cue the music.
Very romantic.
And that's it. We're engaged.
Boom.
[romantic music playing]
[reporter] Tennis legend Serena Williams
has touched down in Auckland
ahead of next week's ASB Tennis Classic.
And as if the arrival
of one of the biggest names
in sport wasn't enough,
she added to the occasion
by announcing her engagement.
[reporter 2] Overall,
it was a low key Kiwi welcome
for arguably the greatest
female tennis player in history.
2016 for me
was a really big disappointment.
I remember, obviously,
getting to the finals of Australia,
and being a set away
from, you know, getting 23,
and I didn't quite get there.
And now I was ready in 2017
to get back on the horse, so to say,
and do well.
I was, like, "This is my year.
This is my year to go for it."
Tried to get a few matches under my belt
before a big Grand Slam,
and so New Zealand it was.
[umpire] Game, set, and match, Williams.
[commentator] An emphatic finish
in her first match of the year.
[Serena] I won the first round,
and then I played Madison Brengle,
another American, in the second round.
And I say that
one of my biggest weakness in tennis
is the wind.
[commentator] You can just see
how fresh that wind is.
[Serena] And Madison Brengle,
she has, like, this really tricky game.
And I was so mad in that match,
between the wind and between her game,
and I just was going nuts.
[wind whooshing]
Physically I felt like,
"Why am I so tired?"
Like, this is ridiculous.
[linesman] Out!
[umpire] Game, set and match.
[commentator] Madison Brengle
cannot believe it.
She has pulled off
the upset of the year.
[Jill] She lost to somebody
that she couldn't possibly lose to,
and she could not hit a ball.
I was in one of the worst moods
I've ever been in on the court.
And I remember saying,
"I'm never coming back.
"I hate this tournament. It sucks."
I'm already so hard on myself,
so a match like that
would not destroy normal people,
but it destroys me.
Like, that makes me really upset.
[dramatic music playing]
I go to Melbourne after New Zealand
and I was in an elevator
with my friend Jessica,
who was also there
when I first met Alexis
all those years ago.
And she's, like,
"Girl, your boobs are big."
I'm, like, "They're always big, Jess.
Leave me alone."
She's, like,
"You should take a pregnancy test."
I'm just, like, "Please."
She's, like, "I'm gonna get you one."
So, you know,
I was, like, "Sure, whatever. Why not?"
The Thursday before the tournament
is generally the day
that we do all our sponsor events
and appearances.
I'm in the hotel suite.
She has to start getting ready.
She's in the bedroom.
There must have been
12 people in the room
from a variety of different partners.
I remember, I was, like,
"Jess, just be quiet
and I'll take this test."
I genuinely didn't think
anything would come of it.
I, like, in my soul
didn't think anything would happen.
And at some point she opens the door
and sticks her head out and says,
"Jill, can you come in here?"
And I'm, like, "Oh, God." [chuckles]
I walk in. She's in the bathroom.
And she looks at me and I look at her
and I'm, like, "You're pregnant."
And, I mean, my face is
I can't be white,
but my face somehow is white.
And my soul was just, like,
not even with me anymore.
I remember thinking to myself,
"Oh, my God. Holy smokes.
"We're starting a Grand Slam
in three days.
"Like, you're pregnant?"
It was a little scary
because it was also, like,
"Is this the end of Serena Williams?
Is this the end of my career?"
I remember taking a deep breath,
then I remember
putting my hands on her face and saying,
"It's gonna be okay.
"You're gonna go out
for the next two weeks
"and you're gonna compartmentalize this
and you're gonna win this tournament
"and then you're gonna drop the mic."
And I said, "And we have
about 12 or 15 people outside
"ready to start
the next six hours of our day
"with you doing all of your appearances,
events, and activities."
[Serena] We're taking pictures,
and outside I'm smiling, you know.
On the outside,
it's just, like, cheese, cheese.
And on the inside,
it's just, like, what?
This is the biggest news of your life.
You have to just cover it up.
So I call Alexis,
and he was supposed to come, like,
the night before the tournament.
She calls me and is, like, "Hey,
you need to get to Australia early."
And was, like, "Why?"
She's, like, "Just come.
Come to Australia early."
And I'm oblivious. Had no idea.
I was, like, "I guess she just needs me
to be there early. How sweet."
[tense music playing]
I get into the hotel room in Melbourne,
and she hands me a bag
of used pregnancy tests,
and she's, like,
"Look, you're gonna be a dad." [laughs]
[Serena] How do you feel?
-You even know how to feel?
-Relaxed?
[indistinct chatter]
Excited.
[Serena] I think everything was a blur.
I just remember going numb.
It was quite surreal.
I was still getting used to
being engaged,
and you find out, all right,
you're gonna be a dad. Cool.
I made a number of phone calls
because I was concerned.
She'd had one pulmonary embolism
and a number of blood clots.
We can't go to the Tour because
we couldn't risk a leak anywhere.
I ended up finding a doctor,
totally unaffiliated,
who opened up a hospital on a Sunday
so that she could go get an ultrasound
and confirm it.
We snuck in.
I remember erasing
the name on the computer
and putting in another name.
[nurse] Okay, so you're pregnant.
The doctor said that I was
seven weeks pregnant.
And I'm, like, "Seven weeks?"
Like, you know, that's crazy.
[nurse] So was this
a spontaneous pregnancy
or a planned pregnancy or is this
[Serena] This is spontaneous.
A surprise.
[nurse chuckles] Surprise!
And I remember Serena
asking me how I felt,
and just being dumbfounded?
Awestruck? I don't know.
Just, like, not any feeling
other than shock really.
I said, "Well, is it okay,
is it safe for me to play?"
And the doctor said, "Well,
you've been playing this whole time.
"You know, it's definitely safe."
The doctor's advice was,
"Hey, look, it's gonna be hot,
"so try to spend as little time
out on the court as possible."
[laughs] And so I think Serena
just decided, "All right.
"The best way to do that
to ensure my health
"and the baby's health
is to just, you know,
"take care of business in two sets
and get off the court."
[journalist] Serena,
the record, moving past Steffi,
it's been around in the background
obviously for a while.
These days,
does it mean anything to you?
What's your thoughts
on that opportunity?
Oh, I'm not talking about that.
I'm just here to play.
And to win, obviously, but just to play.
Who could possibly compete
in a Grand Slam when you're Serena,
with everything on the line,
when you find out that you are pregnant
and all of the things that go with it,
and nobody can know?
[journalist 2] A few weeks ago,
you posted some personal, exciting news.
Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Well, can you elaborate?
[laughter]
[journalist 2] Well,
you said you were engaged?
-Uh-huh. Oh.
-[journalist 2] Yeah, that. Remember?
I'm just kidding.
There was so much talk
at that tournament.
There were so many storylines.
Me returning to number one.
Me breaking Steffi's record.
And meanwhile,
no one knew the best one of all.
[reporter] Serena Williams
and Belinda Bencic
on the court at Rod Laver Arena
getting ready
for their opening round match
in this 105th Australian Open.
96 degrees the air temperature.
Gotta be warmer than that
down on the court surface.
[Serena] My first concern
was the health of the baby.
It was a lot of stress,
and I always try
not to have a lot of stress,
but it's hard when you're pregnant.
It's even more hard
when you're playing pregnant
and you're playing in a Grand Slam.
I just remember
being incredibly nervous and scared,
because if something happens,
I'm gonna have to jump on the court
because no one's gonna know
what's going on.
[Serena] I couldn't tell anyone.
I was looking at my coach
and so many times,
I was gonna say, "I'm pregnant."
And I just couldn't
get those two words out.
[commentator] The eagerly-awaited
first round match.
[Alexis] It was incredibly stressful
knowing everything
that she wanted to accomplish
professionally in that tournament,
everything she wanted
to accomplish personally,
becoming a mother,
and how intertwined those things were.
[Serena] I had a really tough
first round match,
and I was thinking, "Well, gosh,
if I lose, I have a pretty good excuse."
-[linesman] Fault!
-[umpire] Game.
[commentator] I like the depth
of the return of the serve by Serena,
and then she lays an egg.
That's what I did.
I just had very short points.
I was playing way more aggressive,
which is probably how
I should've been playing all the time.
But I ended up winning the first round,
and I was, like, "Oh, okay."
[commentator] That's a really good win
for Serena Williams.
[Jill] After her second round,
it was incredibly hot out.
It was like 115 degrees
and not very safe, and they were
supposed to play doubles that afternoon.
[reporter] One of the tournament's
hottest days today.
Temperatures are gonna be
well up there in the 90s,
and there is thick humidity.
[Jill] I remember Serena
having to leave the site
because she had a terrible headache
and wasn't feeling well.
I was so concerned
about her physical well-being,
and there was no way
she could play the doubles.
But she didn't want to pull out herself
because then that was gonna
create a controversy
about what she was injured with.
So I stayed behind and waited for Venus
to get off the court
and waited
until she finished her interview
and got her into a back office.
And I said Serena was pregnant,
and she's gotta pull out of doubles.
She said to me, "I knew it!"
[reporter] Serena and Venus announced
that they'd be pulling out of doubles
because of a Venus elbow injury.
So Venus took that burden,
and it just took
all that pressure away from me
and it made it look like,
"Okay, so Serena wants to play
and she's in full health."
Because also you don't want
people in the locker room
to know that you're not healthy
because that is a problem, too.
Because then they know, "Oh, wait.
"Something's wrong with Serena?
Let's run her more. Let's do this more."
You try to protect yourself
as best as you can.
It's great to have
your sister as your ally.
I'm just managing it.
It was really disappointing
not to be able to play in New Zealand.
I was hoping that, you know,
I'd have the capacity
to play both events here,
but at this point I need to,
you know, be careful
and just try to maintain myself.
[cheering and applause]
[commentator] And Serena
booms down the ace.
She was so focused
on getting on and off that court
as quick as she could each match
and not to expend any extra energy
that she dialed in and was very focused.
The goal for me was just
to hit as many aces as I could.
And it sounds crazy, but that's my game.
[umpire] Game, Williams.
[commentator] Nasty serve
just kicking up and away
from the five-foot-six Gibbs.
That serve is working today.
I wanted to just go hard and strong.
Bang, bang.
[linesman] Out!
[commentator] And that miss
puts Serena though to the round of 16.
You can see the expression on her face.
Not exactly the punctuation
she was looking for,
but through in dominant fashion.
[Serena] Alexis in those two weeks
was very good and supportive.
In a way, he had to kind of
put his emotions aside
and his happiness and his feelings.
My job is to be here,
be supportive,
be there in whatever capacity
she needs me to be there for,
and that's it.
Let it rip.
[reporter] Welcome to Melbourne Park,
where no result is a given.
And clearly nothing
being taken for granted
by the game's greats
on this day ten of the Australian Open.
It's a gorgeous day, weather in the 70s.
And these are the matches still to come.
The next quarter final up,
Jo Konta of Great Britain
takes on Serena Williams,
who sits three wins away
from Grand Slam title 23.
[Serena] I was playing Johanna Konta,
and she was playing
really well at the time.
And we had a few long points,
and I remember, like,
I don't know
how I got all these balls back.
I was so fast
and running down every ball.
And whenever she hit a serve,
I would crush it for a winner.
It's already really stressful
to watch someone you love
competing at that level.
And then you layer on all those factors,
and I don't think I will ever be
in another arena
feeling more stressed than I did then.
[umpire] Game, set and match.
[cheering and applause]
Well, Serena, first of all,
congratulations once again.
Into your 34th Grand Slam semi-final.
Quite extraordinary.
[cheering]
I'm on the quest for 23 and I'm pregnant
and I know that I'm gonna be out
for at least a year
if I even decide to come back.
But it was also a happy moment
'cause I've always wanted kids.
And I remember telling Alexis
after one match
that I know we're having a girl
because I don't know any man
that could handle this much pressure.
[interviewer] Ladies and gentlemen,
the world number two, Serena Williams.
[crowd cheers]
[grunts]
[commentator] Serena's
been dominant of course,
but Venus has had to overcome
illness and injury
to keep winning at this level.
No final since 2009 until
Now! There it is, match point.
She's back.
[crowd cheering]
[reporter] You can definitely
never underestimate Venus Williams.
She showed that she can
go the distance physically.
[Venus] No idea who I'll play.
I'd love it
if it was a Williams across the net.
[grunting]
[umpire] Game, Serena Williams.
[cheering]
[Serena] I just couldn't be happier
for the results,
and for us both to be in the final
is the biggest dream come true for us.
[reporter] This match
brings their rivalry full circle
as the first ever meeting
between the Williams sisters
came at the 1998 Australian Open
in the round of 64,
which Venus won.
[reporter 2] It's a continuation
of arguably the best sports story
I've experienced in my lifetime.
[journalist] Venus, what will it mean
for you to win on Saturday?
Um, be beautiful.
Be beautiful. I have to earn it.
[reporter] We welcome you
to Melbourne Park.
It's a beautiful night,
fitting this amazing occasion.
For a 28th time overall,
Serena Williams
and her older sister Venus
will play in a Grand Slam event.
[reporter 2] And they happen
to be 36 and 35 years old,
in a sport that it used to be where
30 years old was way over the hill.
[Jill] It was gonna be
their 15th Grand Slam match,
and with everything that was going on
and everything on the line
and all the nuances
that the world didn't know about
but that our small
very small group knew about,
it was the most,
to me, the most stressful one.
[reporter] I think
this is potentially, Chris,
the greatest weekend
in the history of tennis.
What's at stake for the women,
especially Serena.
I think this could be
the most viewed tennis match ever.
I just feel like it's been a while,
and it definitely is,
I mean, this probably is the moment
of our careers so far.
You have to control yourself,
and then you also have to
hopefully put your opponent in a box.
And then this opponent is your sister,
and she's super awesome.
So it's wonderful.
I had not seen
how stressful it is on her
to compete against Venus in a final.
You literally don't talk about it.
No one talks about it.
You almost don't even say the V word.
[Serena] We've played each other
so much in finals
to a point at one point
people were saying it was boring.
And then we were playing each other
full circle in another final,
two decades since the first one.
[reporter] 23 and 22 years later,
they're still at the top of the game.
It's absolutely amazing.
It was such a big moment,
and no one knows that I'm pregnant,
except for Venus,
and I felt really bad about that.
Because I don't want her,
to even in the slightest,
take it easier on me.
And so I felt like is this even fair?
[commentator]
It's a special feeling in the air.
The crowd roared when both Venus
and Serena came out here.
They know they're about to watch
something very special unfold.
History is on the line for both players.
[Serena] I don't look at her.
I just go to the other side
and I look away.
[commentator] Serena tries to ignore
who's at the other end of the net.
We'll see her look down a lot
and not look across very much.
That's her way of coping with this.
[umpire] The two players are ready.
Ready, play.
[grunting]
[cheering and applause]
[commentator] Venus has to be
in Serena's face
right from the first shot.
[Jill] I remember it not being
a great start to the match.
I don't think people understand
the degree of difficulty
of competing against the person
you love the most,
your family, your sister,
your best friend.
[linesman] Out!
[commentator] The crowd
seems to be behind Venus
during this competitive final,
and she breaks back.
[Alexis] There's no joy
in a match against Venus at all.
And so everyone,
even during that whole match,
was sort of stilted, reserved,
because again,
no one's feeling good about this.
[grunting]
Fight! Fight!
You know, in those matches,
you just sit and you watch
and you appreciate the greatness.
But it's not enjoyable.
[crowd gasping]
[commentator] Serena smacks
her racket on the court,
and whacks it in frustration
at the net court winner
[Jill] I love
when she explodes on the court.
I always say, like,
the racket smashes and things like that,
I know they don't look great,
but when she smashes a racket,
she's gonna be fine
because she's getting out something.
[commentator] Serena's relaxing now,
getting a hit out,
and breaks again for 4-3.
And I think again we're in a tie break
and I knew that I more than likely
wouldn't survive much longer than that.
[commentator] Serena
smashed that racket,
settled herself down.
I remember feeling like
I thought the match was gonna turn.
And if you understand what moves Serena,
she has to have anger, chaos,
to play her best.
She can't drum that up
against someone she loves so much.
Only she could have pulled that off.
[crowd cheers]
[Serena] I think the thing
that drove me the most
was I never played so free.
There's very few times
since I won the U.S. Open in 1999
that I played so free.
I didn't have anything to lose.
I didn't have any worries.
I didn't have any pressure.
[commentator] Championship point.
[Serena] Everything is a bonus
because you can't fault someone
that's two months pregnant, you know.
It's just like, "Okay, well,
how did you even win a match,
"let alone a tournament?"
[crowd cheers]
[commentator]
There's no stopping Serena.
23rd major title.
[Serena] I had won 23,
and it was like a dream story.
Can you imagine?
Like, you want that
to be the end of your career
is winning a Grand slam.
[Alexis] She breaks Steffi's record.
She's officially GOATed.
That was it. That was the punctuation.
She did it pregnant for crying out loud.
[crowd cheers]
[Jill] I just was so proud
because I can't imagine having to endure
what she endured
emotionally and physically
during those couple of weeks.
[Alexis] The start of a chapter
that is so meaningful to both of us.
And little Olympia
won her first Grand Slam
still in her momma's belly.
[commentator] Serena, of course,
will continue to be the favorite
wherever she goes.
It's just further confirmation
that she's the greatest player
who's ever lived.
She refused to not be excellent
in the face of so much.
And it's something
that generations from now
people will look back on and admire.
[cameras clicking]
[woman] Yeah.
This is my baby.
[theme music playing]