“So happy to see you smile again” – Venus Williams’ boyfriend Andrea Preti swells with pride after legend makes winning return at Citi DC Open

Venus Williams’ boyfriend Andrea Preti couldn’t hide his pride after the American tennis legend returned to competitive action with a bang at the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington. Williams won the match and to put the icing on the cake, performed an on-court trial to celebrate the victory.

On Monday, July 21, the former No. 1 and seven-time singles Major champion played her first competitive match after a 16-month absence from the WTA Tour. It was a first-round women’s doubles clash in Washington, with Williams and Hailey Baptiste locking horns against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue. The former pair won 6-3, 6-1.

In the aftermath of Venus Williams’ dominant victory alongside Baptiste, the 45-year-old’s boyfriend Andrea Preti took to his Instagram and shared three Stories. The first of them featured Williams and Baptiste all smiles during their win. The actor, writer and director captioned this post:

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"So proud 💪🏻💪🏻 Forzaaaaaaa 💙💪🏻"

His next post featured Williams and Baptiste smiling at reporters at a press conference. Laying bare his happiness at seeing his legendary girlfriend all smiles, Preti added the following caption:

"So happy to see u smile again 💙"

Preti's third post featured a video originally shared by the official IG handle of the Mubadala Citi DC Open. It showed Venus Williams soaking in the love from the fans at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center as she performed her signature twirl to celebrate her victory. The twirl was also one of the iconic celebrations of the 45-year-old's legendary sister, Serena Williams. Preti captioned this post:

"We know 💪🏻"

"My personal goal is to have fun" - Venus Williams on comeback motivation at Citi DC Open 2025

Prior to her victorious doubles outing at the 2025 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington with Hailey Baptiste, Venus Williams was in competitive tennis action back at the 2024 Miami Open. On that occasion, she exited the prestigious WTA 1000 hardcourt event in the first round.

Ahead of returning to the tour as a wildcard in the American capital this year, Williams talked about her "personal goal" of continuing her tennis-playing career despite being 45.

"My personal goal is to have fun I think right now, and enjoy the moment, not put too much pressure on myself. Of course, I love winning. I want to win. But more than anything, I just want to get the best out of myself. If I can do that, then I'll be fine," she said.

In singles, the former No. 1 has a tough task on her hands in Washington, with 23-year-old compatriot Peyton Stearns awaiting her in the first round.

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Sudipto Pati

Sudipto is a Tennis journalist at Sportskeeda holding a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has an experience of 3+ years across the market research, travel, health, lifestyle and sports sectors.

Sudipto has followed Tennis since the early 2000s and stays up-to-date with the sport by following both active and former Tennis players, and seasoned journalists. He also follows ATP and WTA updates, watches documentaries and interviews of professionals, and only reads esteemed publications. He sources all information for his articles only from credible publications stays away from unsubstantiated claims. In just a matter of 3 months, he has gained a readership of almost 2 million at Sportskeeda!

Sudipto admires Rafael Nadal for his fiercely competitive on-court nature and his ability to make memorable comebacks after injury layoffs. The Spaniard may be the GOAT for him, but he also respects the accomplishments of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

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