Serena Williams' Husband Alexis Ohanian Goes After Billionaire Ion Tiriac for Criticizing Her Weight, Age

Ion Tiriac, retired Romanian tennis player and head of the Madrid Open, recently criticized 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams. He said that she should retire due to her weight and age, prompting a strong response from the tennis star's husband. Alexis Ohanian said that no one cares about Tiriac's

"Safe to say no one gives a d— what Ion Țiriac thinks," Ohanian wrote in response to a Twitter user that predicted Williams would not play Madrid again. He added another comment about Tiriac while citing the number of Grand Slam victories. "Had to Google it... turns out my 3 year old has more Grand Slam victories than this [clown emoji]," Ohanian added.

Tiriac made the comments that drew the ire of Williams' husband during an appearance on Romanian television. He said on the show, Network of Idols, that the tennis star should retire and mentioned her weight and age as his primary reasons. The 81-year-old continued and said that Williams would decide to walk away if "she had any decency," prompting a challenge by host Irina Pacurariu.

"At this age and the weight she is now, she does not move as easily as she did 15 years ago," Tiriac said about Williams during the appearance. "Serena was a sensational player. If she had a little decency, she would retire! From all points of view."

The comments on Romanian television are not the first time that Tiriac has gone after Williams due to her age and weight. He made similar statements to a German newspaper in 2018 while saying that he would prefer to see a player like Steffi Graf instead of Williams. She ultimately responded to the billionaire during an interview with the New York Times and referred to his comments as sexist.

"I always say people are entitled to their opinion," Williams said at the time. "Clearly there's more to women's tennis than me. There's a lot more, but I'll have words with him, believe me, I'll have words with him. It's an ignorant comment, and it's a sexist comment, and maybe he's an ignorant man."

Williams' last win at a Grand Slam took place during the 2017 Australian Open. In 2020, Williams failed to reach a Grand Slam final, which ended her consecutive years' streak at 13. According to ESPN, Chris Evert holds the record for most consecutive years reaching a major final, at 14 (1973-86).