Venus Williams Shines at 2025 US Open with Support from Fiancé Andrea Preti

Venus Williams faced off against Karolina Muchova in a gripping first-round match at the 2025 US Open, with fiancé Andrea Preti in her corner, offering unwavering support.

On August 25, inside the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium, Preti, 37, was visibly enthusiastic as he cheered for Williams, 45. Despite a valiant effort, Williams fell to Muchova, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.

The couple's romance began in July 2024, when they were spotted enjoying a boat ride in Nerano, Italy. Their relationship quickly gained attention, and engagement rumors surfaced less than a year later when Williams was seen sporting a diamond ring at Milan Fashion Week in February.

Williams confirmed their engagement in July after a victory against Peyton Stearns at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, D.C. “My fiancé is here,” she shared during a post-match interview with former Australian tennis player Rennae Stubbs, prompting applause from the audience. “He really encouraged me to keep playing. There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill.”

She elaborated on the challenges of professional tennis, crediting Preti for his motivational support. “You guys don’t know how much work goes into this, like, 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,” she explained. “Andrea encouraged me to get through this, and it’s wonderful to be here.”

Stubbs remarked that it was Preti's first time watching Williams compete professionally, to which Williams responded with a smile, “I’d say he’s a good luck charm.”

Before her relationship with Preti, Williams had been candid about her approach to love. In September 2021, she told Cosmopolitan that she wasn’t in a rush to settle down. “I have a lot of friends who don’t believe me when I say that I like my life and I don’t want to change it for any reason,” she stated. “I’m not desperate, and they don’t believe me.”

She further expressed her confidence in finding the right partner when the time was right. “When life changes, you’ve got to know when to change,” she said in an October 2022 interview with Glamour UK. “You can’t hold on to either a relationship or the singleness.”