Venus Williams husband Andrea Preti is now part of the same sentence as her return to competition. She said he pushed her to keep playing tennis, even as she wanted to coast and chill. That private support sits behind a comeback that has put her relationship back in the spotlight.
Williams said there were many times when she wanted to “coast and kind of chill,” but Preti did not let that become the ending. He encouraged her to keep playing, and she told Vogue that after only a few dates in London she knew, “I just knew I was going to marry him,” which turns a romance into a factor in how she approached the court.
Italy and London
Williams met Preti in June 2024 at a Gucci event in Italy while she was on a sisters’ trip to Lake Como during Milan Fashion Week. Preti told Vogue that he was born in Denmark and moved to Italy as a teenager, then approached her with, “You’re so beautiful,” before she started speaking with him in Italian. He asked if she wanted a drink, and the conversation kept going.
She later said they had been married multiple times last year and swapped vows in Italy before making it official in Palm Beach. Williams also said the relationship moved quickly because Preti wanted to call her, and he took the time and energy to come see her when she was in London the next week. That kind of follow-through is not a throwaway detail; in a private relationship, it is the evidence that replaces public proof.
16 months away from court
Williams said Preti was by her side when she underwent surgery for uterine fibroids a month into their relationship. She told Vogue, “We were going through a lot,” and added, “and he supported me.” She had been single for six years before meeting him, so the support arrived at a moment when she was already deciding how much of her life she wanted to keep on her own terms.
That is the contradiction at the center of the story. Williams said, “I do what I do because I want to live life the way I want to, unapologetically, with no regrets, on my terms,” yet she also said Preti really encouraged her to keep playing. He was part of the push that brought her back to competition at the Mubadala DC Open in July 2025, where she played for the first time in 16 months and revealed the engagement after her opening match victory.
2026 U.S. Open
The practical takeaway for Williams’s tennis schedule is simple: the relationship is no longer just private background. She is back in action at the U.S. Open this week after accepting a wild card, and she is set to play doubles with Serena Williams and compete in singles at the 2026 U.S. Open. For a player who has taken breaks because of health and injury-related issues, the advice from Preti now reads like part of the competitive record, not just the romantic one.
What remains most revealing is the speed of her certainty. Williams said a few dates in London were enough for her to know Preti was the one, and that makes the rest of the timeline—surgery support, the comeback, the engagement, and the marriage—feel less like separate developments than one continuous decision.
