Venus Williams has announced her engagement to actor Andrea Preti, shortly after claiming victory in her first tennis match in 16 months following a health setback last year.

At 45, Williams disclosed the news after defeating Peyton Stearns, who is 22 years younger, in two straight sets at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. Her last match took place in March 2024, during which she underwent surgery to remove fibroids from her uterus.

After her triumph, she confirmed to the crowd that she is now engaged and that Preti, 37, had been a huge source of motivation on the comeback trail.

‘My fiancé is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing,’ she said to huge cheers and applause.

“There were numerous occasions when I just wanted to take it easy. Do you know how challenging it is to play tennis? People don’t realize the amount of effort that goes into it; it’s like a 9 to 5 job, except you’re constantly on the move.”

‘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.’

Speculation first started that Preti had popped the question when Williams was seen practicing in Italy with a huge ring on her wedding finger in February. And while it is not yet known specifically when the couple got engaged, the rumors back then now seem to be true. 

Williams has always kept a degree of privacy over her romantic life but rumors she was dating Preti gathered pace last summer when they were spotted on vacation near the Amalfi coast. 

Preti was born in Denmark but moved to Italy as a teenager, according to IMDb.

For the tennis great, happiness off the court has come at a time of difficulty. Opening up about her health condition in July, Williams said that her fibroids led to heavy bleeding and intense cramps – having a huge impact on her life, let alone her tennis career – but doctors were always largely dismissive of her symptoms.

‘As bad as things were for me, crazy amounts of bleeding like you couldn’t imagine … my doctors told me it was normal,’ she told NBC News. ‘No one should have to go through this. You don’t have to live this way.’

Now, she says, she is ‘praying for good health’ during the twilight of her career.

Speaking on Monday after winning in the doubles at the Citi Open, Williams revealed how her mindset around her game had changed after her health scare. 

‘Where I am at this year is so much different where I was at last year. It’s night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago,’ she said.

‘At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if your health is not there. So, it definitely put it in perspective for me and maybe made it easier to make the decision to maybe come back out here and maybe play even freer.’

While sister Serena is married to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, Venus had stayed single for much of her sporting career.

But in October 2022, she admitted that she was ready to settle down with the right person.

‘I’ve had a single life for a long time and I think it’s really easy to get stuck in a single life and sometimes – at least for me – harder to get out,’ she told Gamour.

‘It makes you think about yourself and what you want and how to behave. When life changes, you’ve got to know when to change.’

Williams on Tuesday became the oldest player to earn a WTA singles victory since Martina Navratilova won a match at Wimbledon in 2004 as a 47-year-old. 

Next up, Williams has a tough encounter against No. 5 seed Magdalena Frech, a 27-year-old from Poland. 

Williams is a seven-time Major winner with five Wimbledon titles to her name as well as two US Open victories. 

She has also won Olympic golds in singles and doubles events, where she competed alongside her famous sister and has won around $42million in prize money over the course of her iconic career.