Serena Williams' Husband Alexis Ohanian Praises Tennis Legend For Mastering Work-Life Balance

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, has applauded the tennis legend's ability to balance her career and family while admitting that he has yet to master this skill.

While speaking about his advocacy for paid family leave on "CBS This Morning," the entrepreneur, 38, couldn't help but praise his wife, 39, for successfully juggling her demanding tennis schedule with being a mom to their 3-year-old daughter, Olympia.

"I had a kind of warped view of the path to excellence and the path to greatness being the direct result of just, pure work and that is obviously core to it, but one thing that I'm still working on is balancing that with time off, with time away, with time to reset and recharge," Ohanian was quoted by Entertainment Tonight as saying. "And something she [Williams] is really good at, is shutting it off and focusing on family time and personal time."

Ohanian admitted that he is usually just "smartphone away" from going back to work when he's at home. Fortunately, he has Williams to keep him in check.

"I want to be my best, I think we all do. That was one of the motivations behind even starting Business Dad. We need more men talking about this stuff," he added. "I mean, so may career-driven men, as soon as you get them talking about their kids, you realize they care as much about this, they care more about this, than their empires."

Williams and Ohanian welcomed their daughter at a Palm Beach, Florida, hospital in September 2017. Following their baby's arrival, he compared fatherhood to entrepreneurship and determined his legacy.

"Entrepreneurship is all-consuming, it's sleepless, we call our startups our 'babies,' we are ridiculously proud of them, and we pour all of ourselves into them -- but she is already all that and more, she is my legacy," he wrote on Instagram.

The Reddit co-founder has been advocating for paternity leave for years. Back in 2019, he penned a personal essay for New York Times Parenting after he decided to take 16 weeks of leave when Williams gave birth to their daughter.

"Nothing could have dragged me away from my wife and daughter in those hours, days and weeks -- and I’m grateful that I was never forced to choose between my family and my job," he wrote.

According to the entrepreneur, Williams faced "near-fatal complications" following a C-section delivery. The incident served to highlight how important it was for him to take leave and be with his wife and daughter.

"Serena spent days in recovery fighting for her life against pulmonary embolisms. When we came home with our baby girl, Serena had a hole in her abdomen that needed bandage changes daily," he recalled. "She was on medication. She couldn’t walk."