Serena Williams recalls 'fairytale meeting' with fiance

MELBOURNE - Serena Williams likes to keep her private life just that, but she was happy to reveal Monday that meeting her now fiance, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, was just like a "fairytale".

The American tennis queen broke news of her impending nuptials with a poem in late December on her Reddit account, after the 33-year-old Ohanian popped the question in Rome.

Williams, 35, has been dating Ohanian (above. Photo: AP) since 2015, after a chance meeting at a restaurant in the Italian capital.

"Literally by chance. It was just - I was sitting down, and he sat next to me," Williams said, adding that nobody introduced them.

"Yeah, that doesn't happen anymore, right? I live in a movie and in a fairytale in my mind, so I guess eventually it was bound to happen."

Last month, the couple returned to the same table at the same restaurant, where Ohanian proposed.

Ohanian has been seen at Melbourne Park cheering Williams on at the Australian Open. Williams defeated Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4 on Monday (Jan 23).

When asked if her wedding would be Italy, Williams was noncomittal. "I don't know. I love Italy, though," she said. AFP