Here's Why Serena Williams' Dad Didn't Walk Her Down the Aisle

She understands, Meghan.

By Alex Warner

May 17, 2018

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Serena Williams and Meghan Markle are rumored to be close friends, and it turns out they might have even more in common than they thought. Amid the drama with Meghan's family that has unfolded this week (note: her dad officially will not be at the wedding), Williams revealed that her father didn't walk her down the aisle, either.

Richard Williams—who was also Serena's tennis coach for years—had a suit ready for the big day, and decided one hour before that he couldn't do it. "He was in New Orleans, he had a suit, and I know he was really excited," the tennis champion says in a new documentary titled Being Serena via Vogue.

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"But then he wrote me and said: 'Serena, I don't want you to be mad at me, but I just can't walk you down the aisle. I'm not myself anymore. I'm just too nervous.'"

And instead of being upset, she pulled the ultimate champion move, and told him it was okay.

"If he doesn't want to be up there in front of a lot of people, I completely understand. Look, when we first came on the scene, there were a lot of people who didn't get him. I don't think a lot of them wanted to get him," Williams says.

"I don't think a lot of him could have anyway. Our family knows what we have. We just want each other to be happy. That's what matters. I don't think anything could ever change that."

Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, were married in November. Just two months before their wedding day, they welcomed a baby girl, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, after enduring a dramatic delivery.

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Though it seems Williams won't be Meghan's maid of honor, it's likely she received an invite to the wedding and (we're hoping!) will be there to support her friend on her special day.