A Nigerian newspaper this week seemingly praised tennis star Serena Williams' husband for "babysitting" their first child as she returned to the court.

Baby Alexis Olympia, born in September, made her first public appearance this week with her dad Alexis Ohanian in the stands of the tennis court as Williams played at the Fed Cup in North Carolina.

But a headline from The Punch Newspapers on 12 February, about Ohanian taking on daddy duty, thoroughly unimpressed Twitter users. It read: "Serena Williams' multimillionaire husband babysits as wife returns to court."

The definition of "babysitting" in the Oxford Dictionaries is: "A person who looks after a child or children while the parents are out."

Red Durkin tweeted: "You misspelled "parents his own god damn child."" Jaffe Joffer wrote: "Remember folks, it's "baby sitting" when the dad's involved." Countless others commented that he was simply being a father, doing what a parent is supposed to do, and that it is not called babysitting when it is your own child.

When some people praised Ohanian, others hit back. One user said: "Dis Alexis guy can't stop marveling me! Here's a guy who can get a nanny to do d job but takes care of baby Alexis, bless ur great soul!" But he received this reply: "Hope it's this marvelling when Serena decides to feed her baby as well. Because you know she's a millionaire as well right?"

Many feminists were also annoyed that the headline referred only to Reddit co-founder Ohanian's wealth, when Williams is worth more than 15 times her husband. The tech magnate is worth an estimated $9m to Williams' $150m in 2016.

Durkin tweeted: "The headline refers to him as a 'multimillionaire' as though his wealth is what distinguishes him from his partner, despite being worth less than half of the amount of money she takes in a year & less than 10% of her total estimated net worth."

Rhianne Connor said: "Don't forget that he's a 'millionaire' while she's a 'wife'. I mean, it's not like she's a millionaire.....oh, wait."

Another user said: "I like how they described him as "multimillionaire", while Serena is described as "wife" as if she's not a multiple-multimillionaire herself! Just gonna reduce a multi-grandslam champ! To a court wife."

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian
Serena Williams of Team USA, bottom left, along with her husband Alexis Ohanian and their daughter Alexis Olympia, center, watch the action during the first round of the 2018 Fed Cup at US Cellular Center on February 10, 2018 in Asheville, North Carolina. Richard Shiro/Getty Images
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Serena Williams