A sports executive, Charlie Methven, has claimed that a potential Wimbledon comeback by Serena Williams could also financially benefit her husband, Alexis Ohanian, by drawing attention to his company’s GLP-1 drugs. Williams is all set to compete in her opening round at the Wimbledon Championships.
In August 2025, Williams revealed that she struggled to shed postpartum weight, which was also causing her joint pain despite intense training. She turned to Zepbound through the telehealth company Ro, in which her husband, Ohanian, is an investor. The promotional campaign, which featured the 44-year-old injecting herself, drew sharp criticism.
Critics argued that a world-class athlete promoting prescription medication for weight loss sends the wrong message to the youth. Following her weight loss, the American made a highly anticipated return to tennis and is now focused on her comeback at the All England Club. Amid her return to the Grand Slam, sports executive Methven said that her comeback to the tournament could make her husband a lot of money by promoting his company. In the latest episode of the Biz of Sport, he said:
“The Williams machine is such a commercial machine. Everything is about optimising your talent and your ability to make as much money as possible from sport, realistically with no chance of winning the Wimbledon title. It set me thinking that this might be a powerful commercial statement about what somebody can achieve in their mid-forties if they do take one of these weight loss drugs, and that potentially would make her husband an awful lot of money. Nothing wrong with that, I have to say.”
Serena Williams is scheduled to take on Maya Joint in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships.
Serena Williams opened up about her weight loss journey via GLP-1 medication
In August last year, Serena Williams appeared on the Today Show, where she reflected on her weight-loss journey with the GLP-1 medication. She revealed that she had been using the medication for the last year after trying her hands at several other methods to lose weight. Clarifying that this medication is not a shortcut, she said:
“A misconception is that it’s a shortcut. As an athlete and as someone that has done everything, I just couldn’t get my weight to where I needed to be at a healthy place – and believe me, I don’t take shortcuts. I was on and off and now completely on. It was a really good decision I had to make for my life, you know, I tried everything,” said Serena Williams.
She added:
“This all started after I had my (first) kid. As a woman, you go through different cycles in your life… No matter what I did – running, walking, I would walk for hours because they say that’s good, I literally was playing a professional sport – and I could never go back to where I needed to be for my health. Then, after my second kid, it just even got harder. So then I was like, OK, I have to try something different. That’s kind of what led to this whole journey.”
Serena Williams has won a total of 14 Wimbledon titles in her career, including seven singles titles, six women’s double titles, and one mixed doubles title.
Read more:
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in tennis, college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!
