Serena Williams is sharing an emotional tribute to sister Venus Williams following her wedding to Andrea Preti.
“My sister’s keeper. Venus, where do I even begin?” Serena, 44, wrote on Instagram alongside a series of photos from Venus’ nuptials. “From the backyard courts to the biggest stages in the world, you’ve always led with grace, strength, and a heart bigger than any trophy. Watching you step into this next chapter surrounded by love felt like watching the sun rise…steady, powerful, and full of promise.”
“You’ve been my built-in best friend, my protector, my teacher, and my reminder to always walk in purpose. Seeing you this happy, this loved, this radiant… it means everything to me,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion continued.
Serena concluded, “To love, to partnership, to laughter, and to a lifetime of choosing each other every single day. I couldn’t be prouder to stand beside you, not just today, but always.”
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Venus, 45, tied the knot with actor and model Andrea, 37, in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, December 20, following a five-day celebration with their loved ones.
“It was just the happiest, most beautiful, sweetest day,” Venus told Vogue in an interview published on Tuesday, December 23.
“I can’t describe how beautiful, calm, sacred, exciting, and exalting it was,” Venus said. “It was just a dream.”
The formal wedding ceremony in Florida follows an unofficial ceremony in Italy in September.
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“We had this dream to do our wedding in Italy,” Venus shared. “But we didn’t have enough time to do the paperwork — because I’m a foreigner, it can take about eight months. So we decided to have a second wedding.”
Andrea told Vogue that he was calm on the morning of his wedding, however, his parents were full of energy for their son. “They were all so excited. I was so calm. My mama kept asking: ‘How can you be so calm?’ I said: ‘Mama, I know what I wanted. I’m committed already. It’s something very, very deep for me,’” he said.
On Tuesday, Andrea shared a series of pictures from the wedding on Instagram and captioned the post, “MR & MRS PRETI … it’s a kind of magic 🫶🏻my beautiful wife @venuswilliams 🩵.”
Venus and Andrea were first linked in July 2024 after they were spotted enjoying a boat trip in the village of Nerano in Italy.
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Venus confirmed their engagement this past July in a post-match interview after defeating Peyton Stearns at the Washington Open.
“My fiancée is here,” Venus said, noting that it was Andrea’s first time seeing her play tennis live. “He really encouraged me to keep playing. There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill.”
Venus joked, “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. [Andrea] encouraged me to get through this, and it’s wonderful to be here.”
