Serena Williams' 2 Children: All About Olympia and Adira

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian are the proud parents of two daughters.

The couple welcomed their first daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., named Olympia, in September 2017. They expanded their family five years later when Williams gave birth to their youngest daughter, Adira River Ohanian, in August 2023.

Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams and Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. at the premiere of the film “King Richard” at AFI Fest 2021.

LISA O’CONNOR/AFP/Getty

In an interview with April 2024 ByrdieWilliams, who retired from tennis in September 2022, was asked what brings her the greatest happiness in life, and she replied “my children”, admitting: “I can’t say that the Wimbledon trophy holds a candle to volunteering at my children’s school.”

“I also hope that my daughters will see how many different passions I have — from tennis to beauty — and learn that I can lead dynamic careers and lives around my many interests,” she said.

Although Williams has previously been open about her struggles with motherhood, she also recognizes the joy in such a significant life change.

“My whole life I was so focused on my career, but when I had a family and got married, I realized there was so much more to life. And that was great,” she told PEOPLE in January 2021.

From their birth to spending quality time with their parents, here’s everything you need to know about Serena Williams’ kids.

Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., 6

Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Instagram

Williams and Ohanian’s older daughter, Olympia, was born on September 1, 2017, at St. Mary’s Medical Center. Mary in West Palm Beach, Florida. Ohanian shared the news on Instagram, writing, “Welcome Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr., we’re so happy to meet you… Our little girl is already the perfect mommy’s helper.”

The tennis icon previously announced her pregnancy by posting a photo of her baby bump on Snapchat when she was 20 weeks along. She told later Vanity Fair that she found out she was pregnant just before competing at the 2017 Australian Open, which she won.

“[I] did a double take and my heart dropped. It was as if he literally fell out,” she told the newspaper. Williams thought: “Oh my God, this can’t be – I have to play the tournament. How will I play the Australian Open? I planned to win Wimbledon this year.”

Although the couple chose not to find out the gender of their baby, Ohanian said during the visit Jimmy Kimmel Live! that they both doubted that they would have a girl.

“[Serena] she won the Australian Open while pregnant. She mentioned that she felt like it had to be a girl because everything that that baby went through and endured like a champion, only a woman could be strong enough to endure,” he said.

Williams has been open about her complicated birth experience, including an emergency C-section and post-partum surgeries.

“My whole life I’ve been physically pushing my body to the limit,” Williams told PEOPLE in April 2018. “And this is the only time I couldn’t control anything. I couldn’t push my body. My body was pushing to the max. That was so hard.”

KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty

When Olympia was 4, Williams said her daughter was taking piano lessons and preferred music to sports.

“She likes tennis, but I don’t know. Honestly, she likes to play the piano,” the tennis star revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. “When she was in my belly, I played a lot of piano music.”

She added: “She teaches me too! Like, I’m not kidding at all. I have baby Mozart, [but] Of course, every parent thinks they have a baby Beethoven or whatever.”

Some of Olympia’s other interests include ballet, soccer, VR games, and golf lessons with her dad. Ohanian told PEOPLE that he and Williams love watching their daughter explore her different interests.

“I think she’s a mix of both creative and athletic right now. Mini golf was her thing a year or so ago, and then we got her real golf lessons, and she loved it,” he said. “On the creative side, she loves to dance. Maybe that’s where she’ll find herself – somewhere in the creative end and athletic … Like any parent, we just want her to have fun, and we’re lucky enough to be able to expose her to anything that could interest”.

During a July 2020 interview with PEOPLE, Williams said that Olympia is also already a bit of a fashionista. “Before going to bed, she will prepare what we need to wear in the morning,” she said. “And she says, ‘Blue shirt, blue shirt, blue shirt.’ And then he says, ‘Mommy wears these shoes or these shoes.’ She always tells me that [wear] heels.”

The mother-daughter duo are often twinned in photos. Olympia even joined her mom at Paris Fashion Week in April 2022 and on the cover Vogue in August 2022.

While Olympia follows in her mother’s footsteps and has been playing tennis since she was little, Williams revealed to CBS News Person to Person with Norah O’Donnell that her daughter “doesn’t really like playing tennis very much.”

Serena Williams and Alexis Olympia during the 2020 Auckland Classic tennis tournament.

MICHAEL BRADLEY/AFP/Getty

“It’s a little disappointing for me, but she’s actually really good at it,” she said in 2023. “So we’re trying to figure out a way to get her to play a little bit.”

But even if Olympia does not choose a sports career, she is already a co-owner of two sports clubs. At the age of 2 and a half, she became a co-owner of the Angel City Football Club women’s soccer team, and later of the Los Angeles Golf Club.

“Right now, all Olympia knows is that Angel City FC is our team and she loves to root for them,” Ohanian told PEOPLE in March 2023. “I think as she gets older, maybe she’ll see different layers of it.”

Although Williams and Ohanian do not celebrate Olympia’s birthday because Williams identifies as a Jehovah’s Witness, they do give her special outings. In September 2023, Ohanian took her to Home Depot for a photo shoot the weekend of her 6th birthday.

He shared photos from their date on Instagram and wrote: “This weekend I gave Olympia the ‘best day ever’ where she could choose whatever she wanted. It started with building a microscope. I’m so proud. I love this time with our (NEW) 6 year old.”

As for the older sister, Olympia likes to take care of Adira. Williams often shares photos of her cute sister on Instagram.

Adira Ohanian River, 1

Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. and Adira River Ohanian.

Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. Instagram

The couple’s second daughter, Adira River Ohanian, was born on August 15, 2023.

“I am grateful to report that our house is coming together with love: a happy and healthy newborn baby girl and a happy and healthy mom,” Ohanian wrote on Instagram just days after her birth. “A feeling of gratitude. @serenawilliams you have now given me another incomparable gift — you are GMOAT. I’ll never forget the moment I introduced @olympiaohanian to her little sister.”

On Adira’s first birthday, Williams shared the special meaning behind her daughter’s name.

“Adira is a female name of Hebrew origin and means ‘powerful’, ‘strong’ and ‘magnificent’. The elegant name is popular in many cultures around the world,” she explained on Instagram. “Adira is the feminine form of the classical name Adir. It is a biblical name meaning ‘Strong’.”

The tennis star originally announced her pregnancy when she attended the Met Gala with Ohanian in May 2023. “I was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the three of us to the Met Gala,” she captioned a photo of her and her husband. The couple later revealed the gender of their newborn on a drone screen.

Ohanian then revealed to PEOPLE that “no one is more excited” about the pregnancy news than Olympia. “She wanted it,” he said. “She’s been praying and asking about it for a while, so she’s very ready.”

The entrepreneur also said that he feels safer as a second parent. “We’re not first-time parents anymore,” he said. “I feel more confident with a newborn, all those things that I just didn’t have confidence in with Olympia because I’d never even been around babies in my life at that point.”

Alexis Ohanian Sr., Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. and Adira River Ohanian.

Alexis Ohanian Sr. Instagram

After Adira was born, Williams gave fans an inside look at her newborn’s nursery in a YouTube video. “A little history about this room, this was actually Olympia’s room. It had a blue carpet and it was like a playroom for her,” she shared in the video.

She then showed the details of the room, including red and white cribs topped with a gold crown and red and gold hot air balloons hanging from the ceiling.

In a teaser for the video that Williams posted on Instagram, she revealed that the crib arrived the day before Adira was born.

“I walked into @poppedoll @byselinabyfernando in the Netherlands and saw a baby bed that took my breath away. I wanted to see if I could get something similar, but of course in my colors,” she wrote in the description. “They only had 6 weeks to do it… And they did it! Literally the next day I had Adira! Thank you for making my dream of a children’s room come true ❤️.”

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Source: HIS Education