 "Venus Williams confirmed she is engaged to Andrea Preti after her singles win at Washington Open. Image: Reuters")
It was a record-making evening for Venus Williams at the Washington Open on Tuesday as the legendary 45-year-old tennis player defeated Peyton Stearns to become the oldest player to win a WTA singles match since 2004 and went on to announce her engagement with her actor boyfriend Andrea Preti.
Williams defeated Stearns 6-3, 6-4 after her return to competitive action on Monday in the women’s doubles following a 16-month absence from the game. The victory over Stearns was her first singles win since 2023 in Cincinnati.
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion is now the oldest player to win a WTA singles match since 47-year-old Martina Navratilova triumphed at Wimbledon in 2004.
“I think I just attacked the whole time. It’s just trying to find the right balance between going to hard and not enough,” Williams said after the opening-round win.
“It’s the same because this is what I do, but at the same time, at the time it was imperative for me to do it. Now I don’t have to do this, but I have the same fire and the same want to win.
“In some ways, I’m still getting back into that. When you do it everyday, everything is natural. Not as natural feeling now, but I hope I can get back to that.”
Venus Williams announces engagement to Andrea Preti
Williams also announced that she is engaged to 37-year-old actor Preti and shared how he has helped her get back to the sport.
“My fiancé is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing,’ she said to huge cheers and applause,” Williams was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
“There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill. Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? 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. So he encouraged me to get through this and it’s wonderful to be here. He’s never seen me play.”
Williams will be next up against Polish fifth seed Magdalena Frech.