
Who is Andrea Preti? Venus Williams Announces Engagement to Actor Beau After DC Open Comeback Win
Williams shared the news during a post-match interview after defeating Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4, making her the second-oldest woman in history to win a tour-level singles match.
Williams confirms engagement in post-match interview
The 7-time Grand Slam champion revealed her engagement while speaking with commentator Rennae Stubbs. 'You are now an engaged woman,' Stubbs said during the interview as reported by The New York Post. 'So, how has Andrea helped you in this comeback? You're happy, a smile on your face. I mean, how much has he made a difference in your life?'
Venus Williams responded, 'My fiancé 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. 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.'
She added, '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.'
When did Venus Williams and Andrea Preti start dating?
Williams and Andrea Preti were first seen together in July 2024 during a boating trip in Nerano, Italy. In February 2025, engagement rumors started swirling when Williams was spotted wearing a diamond ring. Preti is known for roles in films like Temptation (2023) and My Beloved Enemy (2018). He also starred in the series A Professor.
In past interviews, Williams had spoken openly about enjoying her single life. '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 told Cosmopolitan in 2021. 'I'm not desperate and they don't believe me.'
She also told Glamour UK in 2022, '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.'
Williams, a five-time Wimbledon champion and two-time U.S. Open winner, has had a legendary career. Her latest win at the DC Open is her first tour-level victory since March 2024 and proves her continued strength on the court.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hindustan Times
40 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Cycling-Peerless Pogacar claims fourth Tour title, Van Aert wins brutal final stage
By Julien Pretot HT Image PARIS (Reuters) - Tadej Pogacar claimed his fourth Tour de France title on Sunday, cementing his status as the most dominant rider of his generation and moving alongside Britain's Chris Froome on the all-time winners' list. The 26-year-old Slovenian, who triumphed in 2020, 2021 and 2024, delivered a near-flawless performance, even coming close to prevailing on a spectacular final stage on the Champs Elysees after an epic duel with Belgian Wout van Aert. "Just speechless to win a fourth Tour de France. Six years in a row on the podium and this one feels especially amazing, and I'm super proud that I can wear this yellow jersey," Pogacar, who was second in 2022 and 2023, said. Pogacar attacked relentlessly in the ascents of the Butte Montmartre but eventually suffered a brutal counterpunch from Van Aert, who went solo to win the last stage. The competitive element was largely neutralised on Sunday after organisers decided to freeze the times with about 50 kilometres left due to hazardous road conditions in driving rain. It did not prevent Pogacar from going for it, however, but Van Aert proved to be the best on the day, beating Italian Davide Ballerini and third-placed Matej Mohoric with Pogacar taking fourth place. The world champion effectively sealed his victory in the Pyrenees, with a brutal attack on the climb to Hautacam and a commanding victory in the uphill individual time trial, leaving chief rival Jonas Vingegaard more than four minutes behind. Twice champion Vingegaard of Denmark ended up 4:24 off the pace in Paris. LIPOWITZ THIRD German Florian Lipowitz finished third, 11:00 behind Pogacar, on his Tour debut and won the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider. "This was one of the hardest Tours I've ever been in," Pogacar said. The celebrations turned tense on Sunday when the final stage featured three climbs up Montmartre. Times had been neutralised some 50km from the finish due to slippery roads, but a fierce fight for the stage win still unfolded. Pogacar equalled Froome (2013, 2015–17) and now only trails cycling greats Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil and Miguel Indurain, who share the record with five titles. Pogacar also secured the polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification, underlining his all-round dominance, while Italy's Jonathan Milan clinched the green jersey for the points competition. For Ineos Grenadiers, the once all-conquering team that ruled the 2010s with victories by Bradley Wiggins, Froome and Geraint Thomas, there was little to celebrate beyond two stage wins by Thymen Arensman. Thomas, a former champion, rode his last Tour in virtual anonymity, as the British team continues to face questions amid doping allegations reported in recent weeks. As tradition dictates, riders entered Paris in celebratory mood, but the finale proved anything but routine with the Montmartre climbs spicing up the closing laps. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ed Osmond)


Hindustan Times
40 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Four-time Tour de France winner Pogacar - greatest cyclist of his generation
Tadej Pogacar is cycling's generational great and the Slovenian has silenced any remaining doubters that the sport has found its heir to the great Eddy Merckx. HT Image On his swaggering romp across France on his way to a fourth Tour de France title on Sunday, one could still catch glimpses of the boy desperate to beat his brother in the hills outside Ljubljana. But now Pogacar has also learned to curb some of his gung-ho instincts, which not only lifted him to success at times, but were also behind his rare defeats. In 2024 he won the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the world title, a feat known as cycling's Triple Crown and won only by Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987. Pogacar's dominance of the current scene is without doubt, but the kangaroo courts of social media are asking another question, one that will forever dog cycling -- is Pogacar for real? Pogacar, a proven combative all-rounder capable of taking on mountain climbs as easily as flat sprints, has never tested positive at any time in his career. "I'm a good boy from a good family, taking no short cuts in life," he told AFP. He does indeed appear to be surrounded by a good family, a school teacher mother and a furniture designer father who live in the same village in the hills outside the Slovenian capital where he grew up. He shares a home with his fiance and fellow cyclist Urska Zigart in Monaco when their programmes allow, while his firm friend and off-season traing partner cyclist Michael Matthews of Australia is a near neighbour. "He hasn't changed, he's such a humble guy. He just wants to have fun and enjoy his riding," Matthews said. Pogacar is credited with having recreated that family spirit at his Team UAE, with whom he signed a 54-million-dollar six-year contract last November, according to Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport. Teammate Pavel Sivakov told AFP that Pogacar was easy to deal with and a constantly positive personality. "He's always super relaxed and easy to work with. Mentally he's always focused on the positives. We know he's always going to deliver whatever he can. He's humble and good for the atmosphere in the team," said Sivakov. While most agree there is something boyish about Pogacar, there are signs he has grown up. "This is my sixth Tour de France now, I miss the white jersey," he told reporters, referring to the jersey worn by the best-placed rider aged 26 and under. In taking on his great rival, the two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, Pogacar has galvanised his team and forced them to control the peloton, leading to accusations of arrogance. "There's a difference between arrogance and trying to win a Tour de France," retorted the man who psyches himself up by listening to Slovenian rapper Drill. He still rides a bike with a sticker of the Incredible Hulk on it, joking: "He's the one you shouldn't make angry." Fellow Slovenian Matej Mohoric, himself a junior world champion and elite rider for the Bahrain Victorious team, said this week that Pogacar was a true great. "He was born with a machine inside him, and he was born with the brain to use that machine," Mohoric said. There will always be doubters, but during his victorious charge across France, Pogacar was already scanning the horizon for the next win. "Unlike a lot of cyclists I haven't booked any holidays, so maybe I'll race the Vuelta," he said of the Spanish Tour, which starts on August 23. He will also be in the Rwandan capital Kigali in September to defend the world road race title. dmc/lp/gj


Hindustan Times
40 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Delayed start at Belgian Grand Prix highlights Formula 1's challenge with racing in the rain
Of all the thousands of pieces of equipment that Formula 1 hauls around the world, few are used less often than the full wet tire. HT Image They stayed piled up in stacks, not on the cars, on Sunday as drivers sat out a rain delay of more than an hour to the start of the Belgian Grand Prix. It wasn't because F1 cars lack grip in heavy rain. Manufacturer Pirelli says the full wet tires can cope with that. The problem is that drivers behind can't see through the spray, and the first attempt to start Sunday's race on time illustrated the problem. Even crawling around at formation lap pace with only Lando Norris and the safety car ahead, eventual winner Oscar Piastri said he 'couldn't see a thing,' adding, 'you can only imagine what it's like for the guys at the back.' When the race started, it was behind the safety car at low speed before the all-clear to go racing. Like all of the drivers, Piastri was using the intermediate tires, which are recommended for light rain or a drying track, when he eventually passed Norris for the win. 'The past few years, particularly here, we've given the (governing body) FIA feedback that we would much rather be on the safe side than risk anything,' Piastri said. 'If you were to be picky, maybe we could have done one less formation lap (behind the safety car), but in the grand scheme of things, if that's one lap too early, is it worth it? No.' Visibility is a particular concern at Spa, a fast track with a history of serious accidents. They include Anthoine Hubert's death in a Formula 2 crash in dry conditions in 2019 and another fatal accident claiming the life of Dutch teenage driver Dilano van 't Hoff in a junior series in the rain in 2023. 'I have to say that on a track like this, with what happened historically, I think you cannot forget about it. For that reason I would rather be safe than (start) too early," said Charles Leclerc, who finished third Sunday and who was friends with Hubert since childhood. Under the current F1 design regulations in place since 2022, cars have ground-effect aerodynamics which use the floor to generate grip but can also throw up more spray. If there's enough rain for the full wet tires to be faster than the intermediates, it's likely the race will be stopped because of poor visibility anyway. There was a reminder of the importance of visibility this month at the British Grand Prix when Isack Hadjar collided with Kimi Antonelli's car from behind while driving in the Italian's trail of spray. 'I didn't see him,' Hadjar said. 'He just appeared out of nowhere, man. Oh my God.' ___ AP auto racing: