Venus Williams recently made a winning start to her campaign at the Mubadala DC Open, clinching a win in her opening round match for the women’s doubles event alongside Diana Shnaider. Reacting to the American’s triumph, her husband Andrea Preti was left vowed.
Over the course of 2026, Williams has struggled to play near her best, having made early exits in both the singles and doubles events in several tournaments. Her best performance coming into DC was a quarterfinals finish in the women’s doubles at the Bad Homburg Open, where she partnered Alexandra Eala. Most recently, the seven-time Grand Slam champion joined forces with Russia’s Diana Shnaider for the Mubadala DC Open and the duo had a winning start to their partnership as they defeated Quinn Gleason and Ulrikke Eikeri in their opening round match on Monday.
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Reacting to Venus Williams‘ triumphant return in DC, her husband Andrea Preti shared a clip of her match on his Instagram story and wrote,
“Mamma Mia!!! Let’s go Queen V.”
Williams and Preti began dating sometime in 2024. After a whirlwind romance, the couple got engaged in January 2025, before tying the knot later that same year in two celebrations divided between Italy and Florida.
Venus Williams opens up about her partnership with Diana Shnaider after their opening round win in DC
Ahead of the start of the Mubadala DC Open, Venus Williams and Diana Shnaider‘s pairing took many fans by surprise. After their opening round win on Monday, the American gave tennis enthusiasts the story behind their partnership coming to life, telling media at a press conference,
“I know she’s had success on the doubles court. I’ve seen her play well, so I thought ‘okay, we could be a really good team’. So I’m really happy that she said yes, because it’s a long US Open series, and you have to save your energy. Playing two events is not easy. I think it was the right choice, though.”
Reflecting on their opening round win, Williams said that the duo reached the ‘fun zone’ during their game, explaining,
“I said to Diana in the middle of the match, ‘Now we’ve reached the fun zone, we’re having fun’. We got there today where we were having fun with the challenge of the game, because it’s most certainly a challenge.”
Up next, Venus Williams will return to action on Tuesday, July 28 for her women’s singles campaign. The American will take on Anastasia Potapova for her opening round match.
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Edited by Riddhi Acharya