She has credited her current boyfriend with inspiring her recent success on the tennis court.
So Serena Williams may possibly be glad that she didn’t heed her own rules for dating.In a documentary film, the 31-year-old player is shown saying that she ‘only dates black men’.The film was shot months before she became romantically involved with her white tennis coach, Patrick Mouratoglu, last year.Asked if she had ever considered marriage, she tells the filmmakers: ‘I’m married to me. I’m very selfish and set in my ways.‘There are some great guys out there, wonderful people. I only date black guys. I don’t mind white guys, I just prefer black guys.’
Serena has dated US actor Jackie Long, American footballer Bryant McKinnie and rapper Common, who are all black, but Mouratoglu is not her first white boyfriend.She had a relationship with US film director Brett Ratner, which ended in 2005, and was also linked to 21-year-old Bulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov before her current romance.Serena began dating Mouratoglu, 42, after recruiting the Frenchman when she suffered her first ever opening round defeat in the French Open last year. Since then he has guided her to her fifth Wimbledon title, an Olympic gold medal, her fourth US Open title and her second French Open title, and also lifted her back to world No 1 in the WTA rankings.
The documentary, which is called Venus And Serena, is released next week. In it, her 33-year-old sister Venus also talks about her private life.Venus, who is dating 24-year-old Cuban model Elio Pis, says: ‘I’d like to think about getting married one day. But I want to play tennis for ever. I can’t be having kids and doing that.’Serena will play at Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, but Venus has pulled out with a back injury.
Yesterday Serena had to apologise for her comments about the case of a drunken 16-year-old girl raped by two high school American football players in Ohio who then swapped video of the assault on social media.Asked to comment following their conviction, she told Rolling Stone magazine: ‘I’m not blaming the girl, but … she’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky.‘She shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.’After criticism on Twitter, Serena said last night: ‘For someone to be raped, and at only 16, is such a horrible tragedy. I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article.’ – DailyMail
