Slam dunk: 9 athletes who scored perfectly in the romance department

Athletes can seem untouchable - like they operate on a different plane than the rest of us. But history has shown us that, as far as romance goes, even the biggest athletes have gotten turned down, shooed away, or even had to scurry off to the bathroom just to work up the nerve to text their pop star date how good she looks (we're talking about you, Alex Rodriguez). As Valentine's Day (February 14) quickly approaches, we look at nine sports couples who will have cause to celebrate on Sunday.

SERENA WILLIAMS AND ALEXIS OHANIAN: In one of the most unusual encounters in sports romance history (that's a thing now), tennis icon Serena Williams met Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian by chance in 2015, when he sat down at a breakfast table next to hers at a hotel in Rome. Williams and her friends tried to scare him off, claiming they saw a rat near his table. “I’m from Brooklyn. I see rats all the time,” he replied. It was only when Williams invited him to join their table that Ohanian realised who he was sitting next to: one of the biggest athletes of all time. The two have since married and have a daughter named Olympia.

RUSSELL WILSON AND CIARA: The Seahawks quarterback met singer Ciara in 2015 at a basketball match in Wisconsin. He was so enamored by her that he postponed a pre-planned business dinner to 10.30pm, just so he could hang out with her instead. They got so caught up talking that night, and next thing he knew, it was 12.30am and he’d missed his meeting. They married the following year.

DAVID BECKHAM AND VICTORIA: Arguably the biggest power couple in sports history, footballer David Beckham and Spice Girl Victoria Beckham met in 1997 at a charity match and dated in secret for three months. “We loved that because we could sneak around. Our first kiss was in the car park of a restaurant,” said Beckham. Now they have four kids together, the oldest being 21-year-old Brooklyn.

BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER AND ANA IVANOVIC: Is there anything sweeter than athletes from different arenas falling for each other? That’s what happened when German footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger and Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic met in 2014. Schweinsteiger jetted over to Serbia to be with his love for her 27th birthday, the first sign that these two were in it to win it. They married two years later.

DWAYNE WADE AND GABRIELLE UNION: Basketball player Dwayne Wade and actress Gabrielle Union met in 2006 as co-hosts of a Super Bowl party. "When I met Dwyane, his resume looked like crap: athlete, going through a divorce, nine years younger than me,” said Union. She later said: "He's sweet, funny, honest about his shortcomings. When I put my preconceived notions to the side, I found someone cool." They married in 2014.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ AND JENNIFER LOPEZ: Back in 1998, a young Alex Rodriguez was asked who his dream date would be. “Jennifer Lopez. Hopefully you can find me a date with her,” the baseball player replied. They met years later at a Mets game in 2005 but were married to different people. After a surprise encounter in 2017, the two went on a date and A-Rod texted her from the bathroom of the restaurant, writing: “You look sexy.” “It was adorable,” said J Lo.

GERARD PIQUE AND SHAKIRA: The Spanish footballer and Lebanese-Colombian pop star started dating in 2010, meeting on the set of the World Cup music video for Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’. Shakira said her faith had been shaken until she met Pique. “Suddenly I meet Gerard and the sun comes out,” she revealed. The two even share a birthday — February 2 — although Shakira was born exactly 10 years earlier than Pique.

STEPH AND AYESHA CURRY: Steph and Ayesha met at a church youth group in North Carolina when they were 14 and 15. Ayesha wasn’t allowed to date, so she ‘flirted’ by wordlessly giving Steph her favourite candy. When Curry was in LA for basketball camp a few years later, he asked Ayesha out via Facebook, but she turned him down. She said yes the next time they were both in their hometown of Charlotte. They’ve been married since 2011.

ANNA KOURNIKOVA AND ENRIQUE IGLESIAS: If Posh and Becks are the Queen and King of this list, then these two are the Prince and Princess. They met on the 2001 set of Iglesias’ Escape’ music video, where Russian tennis player Kournikova played his romantic interest. Clearly, they since figured out that staying out of the public eye is the success to a long, healthy relationship — because they’ve been together 20 years, and have three kids.