Tennis icon Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion known for her enduring career, has entered a new chapter of her life with a quiet yet profound personal decision. In 2025, she married Andrea Preti, an Italian actor and producer, in a series of ceremonies that reflected her lifelong philosophy of moving at her own pace, away from the public glare.
A Partnership Forged Away from the Spotlight
Venus Williams and Andrea Preti first connected in 2024 during Milan Fashion Week at an event associated with Gucci. Their meeting occurred at a cultural crossroads where sports, fashion, and art intersect. What began as a conversation evolved naturally into a relationship that developed privately, without a staged public debut. It simply emerged, fully formed, on its own terms.
Andrea Preti represents a distinct departure from the typical celebrity partner. Born in Denmark and raised in Italy, he built a steady career in European fashion, acting, and production, largely away from the Hollywood ecosystem. His world is one of quiet ambition and relevance that isn't dictated by algorithms or constant public narration. For Venus, after decades as a global symbol, choosing a partner who exists comfortably outside that symbolism felt like a deliberate and corrective choice.
The Wedding: A Two-Act Affair Across Continents
The marriage itself unfolded as a thoughtful sequence rather than a single spectacle. In September 2025, the couple held an intimate, cinematic ceremony on the Italian island of Ischia. This was followed by a second ceremony and extended celebrations with family in Palm Beach, Florida, in December of the same year.
This two-part structure spoke volumes: Italy offered privacy and a connection to Preti's heritage, while Florida provided a setting for family. The wedding was designed as a chapter in their lives, stretched across geography and time, not merely a one-night event.
Venus Williams: A Legacy of Defying Timelines
This union fits seamlessly into Venus Williams's history of defying expectations and imposed schedules. Her career, spanning seven major singles titles, was built on longevity and comebacks that arrived on her own timeline, not the sport's. She outlasted eras that demanded women athletes be either youthful prodigies or graceful retirees, choosing instead to persist and refuse erasure.
Her approach to romance has mirrored this. Before Preti, her relationships, including those with Italian model Elio Pis and professional golfer Hank Kuehne, were notably guarded and free from spectacle. Love was never an accessory to her fame. At 45, marrying the 37-year-old Preti, she once again challenges societal norms that insist on counting years for women who have long transcended them.
This marriage is not a reward or a reinvention. It is a decision made from a position of a life fully lived at full volume. Having controlled the most pressurized moments on global courts for decades, Venus Williams has finally claimed a profoundly personal moment entirely for herself. If it unsettles expectations, that is precisely her signature move. She waited, she watched, and when she moved, it was because the moment was finally hers to take.
