Time off from tennis paid other dividends. It was in 2024 that Venus met her husband—at a Gucci runway show in Milan. Preti introduced himself and the two struck up a conversation. “She speaks Italian very, very well,” Preti says. And when a text relationship ensued, “she asked for restaurant suggestions in Milan, and I said I want to see you,” he remembers. They connected in London, where Venus was cohosting the Serpentine Summer Party. Venus, who’d been single for six years, quickly identified Preti, an old-school romantic, as the One.
“In the past a guy would call you; he would tell you you looked beautiful, that he loved your outfit. In this day and age, that doesn’t really happen,” she laments. “But Andrea did all those things. The first time he called, I thought, Is something wrong?”
The tight-knit Williams family swept Preti into the fold. “He is her biggest cheerleader,” Serena says. “It’s rare to find someone who loves you wholeheartedly for who you are, not what you represent.” Preti felt their welcome right away. “We were very close,” Preti says. “We could talk about everything, fashion, movies, lots of things. They didn’t make me feel like I was outside.”
In lieu of a honeymoon, Venus and Preti have been together on the road, Venus securing wild card bids to the Australian Open, the ATX Open in Austin, Indian Wells, and the Miami Open. Preti has cheered her on from her player’s box, Venus’s 18-year-old Havanese pup, Harry, perched on his lap. On the rare off-day, the newlyweds like to stay close—as in, locked-in-a-room close. “We love escape rooms,” Venus admits. “We work well together, but he definitely likes to ask for hints, and I’m like, Let’s just hold on. I wanna figure this out first.”
In May the couple will make their debut in grander confines, at the Met Gala. Venus is serving as co-chair, alongside Beyoncé and Nicole Kidman. This year’s exhibition, “Costume Art,” sets fashion alongside the dressed form in fine art through centuries—and through a spectrum of body types. “I love the theme. It’s a perfect fit for me,” Venus says. “It’s even more important today because people feel so much pressure to look a certain way. Though there’s so much beauty in difference.”
Venus herself reached the height of five eleven at 13. “I definitely had an awkward period, but I didn’t know I was in it,” she says and laughs (she’d eventually grow to six one). “I didn’t go through a period like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so tall. Guys are this tall.’ I was trying to figure out how to beat these people who were coming for me,” she says. “I was focused on being the best player in the world. I didn’t have time to think about whether I was winning some imaginary beauty contest.”
Venus famously loves fashion—last year at the US Open she wore a parade of New York designers, including Khaite, Luar, and Who Decides War, onto court. Gabriela Hearst, who dressed her for the 2022 Met Gala in a black Chloé suit and sunglasses, adores working with her. “Venus looked so elegant,” Hearst recalls of the Met look, a play on the film Men in Black. “As a superathlete, she is very aware of her body and knows exactly what she wants.” Of late Venus has been simplifying her wardrobe. The cream-colored wool jacket she wears to our interview is Max Mara, which she’s had for a long time, and the matching quarter-zip sweater underneath was a purchase from “Bezos Atelier,” she jokes. “I had to recover from a shopping addiction,” she goes on. “It was horrible. Too much excess.” The remedy has been to donate much of the fashion she owns—handbags especially. (“My dog is my best accessory,” she says with pride.) A look she’s kept is the first one she spent prize money on, a Dolce & Gabbana corset she bought at 19.
