Alexis Ohanian's T-shirt subtly backs Serena over Tom Brady in Greatest Athlete row
Williams will face-off against Naomi Osaka in Grand Slam semi-finals
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Your support makes all the difference.Alexis Ohanian proudly expressed his belief that his wife Serena Williams is the greatest athlete of all time while watching the tennis star compete in the Australian Open.
On Tuesday, the Reddit co-founder attended Williams’ match against Simona Halep, which the 39-year-old won, in a white T-shirt emblazoned with a graphic of Williams and “Greatest female athlete,” with the word “athlete” crossed out.
Ohanian’s decision to wear the supportive shirt came after Tom Brady’s recent Super Bowl win with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sparked a debate about the greatest athlete of all time.
Following the Super Bowl, many were quick to refer to Brady as the GOAT, or greatest athlete of all time, for his impressive seven Super Bowl wins.
However, Williams has a combined 39 Grand Slam wins in singles and doubles championships, which many, including her husband, believe makes her worthy of the GOAT title.
On social media, where Ohanian’s shirt went viral, many fans agreed with the sentiment.
“Yes! Speak that truth! One of my favourite things of the match was seeing the shirt you proudly wore. Your wife should NEVER be defined as simply the greatest ‘female’ athlete. What a fantastic win tonight,” one person tweeted.
Another said: “She’s pretty undeniably the goat athlete. I used to think it was Brady until I checked her career accolades and sheesh.”
Others asked Ohanian where to find the shirt, with someone else tweeting: “Hey @alexisohanian, where can I get one of these? #GOAT.”
The inquiry prompted the 37-year-old to respond: “I don’t know but @nike will .... I’m just their model.”
Following the match, Ohanian also took the opportunity to again call out Madrid Open director and former pro Ion Tiriac, who recently made widely condemned comments suggesting Williams should “retire” because of her weight and age.
“At this age and the weight she is now, she does not move as easily as she did 15 years ago … Serena was a sensational player. If she had a little decency, she would retire,” Tiriac said, prompting many to accuse the 81-year-old of being racist and sexist.
After Williams advanced to the Grand Slam semi-final, Ohanian retweeted a clip of his wife’s recent match, adding: “Good thing no one listens to that racist sexist [clown emoji] Ion Țiriac.”
Williams also reflected on her recent win on her Instagram, where she shared photos of herself smiling with the caption: “The smile says it all. This proud mama marches on.”
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