Venus Williams had the tennis world buzzing not just with her return to the Hologic WTA Tour this summer — but also with the news that she had taken the next step in her personal life. Linked romantically to Italian actor and former model Andrea Preti since last year, the former world No. 1 confessed in July after her first competitive action in more than a year that they were engaged.
On Tuesday, the public got the first look of the immediate aftermath of that proposal: Williams dropped photos of the couple getting cozy both together, and with her senior dog Harry, at a scenic tropical locale on her social media channels, and revealed that she’s been a fiancée for nearly a year.
Per Williams’ caption on her Instagram post, which racked up nearly 175,000 likes and drew heart-eye emojis from Coco Gauff, Preti officially popped the question in January — Jan. 31, to be exact, just days after the conclusion of the 2025 Australian Open.
The former world No. 1 hard-launched both her blooming romance with Preti, and their upgraded relationship status, in July after making a winning return to the Hologic WTA Tour. Following a first-round win over Peyton Stearns — which made the 45-year-old the second-oldest player to win a tour-level singles match in the Open Era — at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, Williams said that “my fiancé is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing” after more than a year on the sidelines.
She later impressed in a three-set loss to No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova in the first round of the US Open, and had Flushing Meadows buzzing for more than a week as she reached the doubles quarterfinals alongside Leylah Fernandez.
“There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill,” she said in D.C., confirming that the actor had never seen her play before. “Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? You guys don’t know how much work goes into this. It’s 9 to 5 except you’re running the whole time.
“Lifting weights and just like dying, and then you repeat it the next day. So he encouraged me to get through this and it’s wonderful to be here.”
Williams’ comeback is set to continue in 2026, as she’s already committed to the ASB Classic in New Zealand, which begins on Jan. 5.
