Venus Williams enjoyed a winning return to competition in Washington last week. The former world No. 1 had not played a tournament in 16 months when she turned up to the WTA 500 event, taking a wildcard into the singles and doubles draws. She teamed up with Hailey Baptiste to win her opening doubles match.
Aged 45, Williams became the oldest woman to win a WTA Tour singles match since 2004 when she stunned Peyton Stearns last Tuesday. While addressing the crowd in her on-court interview, she confirmed her engagement to Andrea Preti.
Rennae Stubbs, who conducted the interview, asked the seven-time Major winner how her fiance had contributed to her return to tennis. "My fiance is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing. There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill," she replied.
Williams has been spotted with Preti in recent months, but it was the first time she referred to the actor and model as her fiance.
Preti is half Danish and half Italian. He was born and raised in Denmark but moved to Italy as a teenager and pursued a career in modelling.
He then moved to New York and started acting at the Susan Batson Studio, an academy that trained the likes of Nicole Kidman and Laverne Cox.
The 37-year-old wrote, directed and starred in his first movie, One More Day, which came out in 2015. He's also appeared in the Italian series Un Professore.
And Williams isn't the only tennis player Preti has dated. He was previously in a relationship with Italian professional Susanna Giovanardi. The pair were spotted together at the Challengers premiere last spring, months before he met Williams.
Giovanardi reached a career-high ITF ranking of No. 648 three years ago.
Williams and Preti were spotted together for the first time last July while on holiday in Nerano, Italy. The tennis star was seen wearing an engagement ring in February.
Their only public appearance came earlier this year at the Dsquared2 show during Milan Fashion Week.
Preti will be preparing to cheer Williams on as she ramps up her comeback at next month's Cincinnati Open. The 45-year-old has received a wildcard into the main draw.
She has also entered the new US Open mixed doubles event with Reilly Opelka. And she could also make her main draw singles return in Flushing Meadows if she gets a wildcard.
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