Venus caps historic return to tennis by confirming engagement to actor

She's engaged! On a historic night for Venus Williams on the court, she made some notable news off of it.

Venus Williams is making moves.

On the same week that the 45-year-old icon returned to the Hologic WTA Tour at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, she confirmed her engagement to Italian actor Andrea Preti.

"My fiancé is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing," the seven-time Grand Slam champion told Rennae Stubbs during her on-court interview on July 22, her adoring fans hanging on every word. "There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill. 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. He’s never seen me play."

Preti, a 37-year-old former model, grew up in Denmark before moving to Italy as a teen. He made his acting debut in 2015's One More Day, which he also wrote and directed, and most recently appeared in 2023's Temptation.

During the same interview, the jubilant Williams revealed, with a laugh, that she returned to the tour because she was in desperate need of quality health insurance. ("I'm always at the doctor, so I need this insurance.")

It's been a historic week for the five-time Wimbledon champion and eternal fan favorite. After ousting World No. 35 Peyton Stearns, 6-3, 6-4, in 1 hour and 37 minutes, Venus became the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match since 47-year-old Martina Navratilova defeated Catalina Castano at Wimbledon in 2004. On Thursday, July 24 she'll attempt to keep the momentum going against World No. 24 Magdalena Frech in the Round of 16.

Venus is also still in the doubles draw after winning her first-round match, with partner Hailey Baptiste, over soon-to-be-retired Eugenie Bouchard and 19-year-old American Clervie Ngounoue. They'll play second-seeded Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai on Wednesday, July 23.

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