Just In: Tennis Fans Left Stunned as Venus Williams’ Husband, Andrea Preti, Finally Breaks His Silence About the Rift Between Her and Alex Eala with a Simple Two-Word Message
Rumours of a rift between Venus Williams and Alex Eala have been in the spotlight since the seven-time women’s Grand Slam singles champion made a startling remark. During a press conference before her singles campaign opener, Williams addressed why she isn’t teaming up with the young Filipino after last month’s Bad Homburg Open.
The veteran American star joined forces with Eala and enjoyed a quarterfinal run before being knocked out by Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalíková. Williams then revived her historic partnership with her sister Serena at Wimbledon. However, fans were stripped of the prospect after Serena Williams tweaked her knee, leaving her unavailable for the clash.
With the Williams sisters’ reunion out of contention, the 46-year-old formed a pair with Russia’s Diana Shnaider in Washington. Before the tournament, Venus Williams disclosed that it “didn’t work out” with Eala for the event at the US capital. But she assured that they would “love” to dazzle on the court together in future.
We had a great time playing at Bad Homburg so we were looking forward to playing again. Didn’t work out this time. Would love for there to be future times. We’ll see what happens,” Williams said while addressing the media.
Fans speculated a rift between Williams and Eala as they decoded the former’s remarks. While specifically pointing to “didn’t work out”, fans suggested several theories, including Eala not being a “good match” for Williams or a potential injury concern for the 21-year-old.
Venus Williams’ husband Andrea Preti put all the rumours to rest with a two-word message on his Instagram story. He cheered for Eala for her Round of 16 encounter against Leylah Fernandez and wrote: “Let’s go.”
Recently, Eala also gave her side of the story about the abrupt end of her exciting collaboration with Venus Williams in Washington. She confessed that she is incapable of offering everything she has “physically, emotionally, and mentally“, which Williams deserves from her partner at this point.
I have so much respect for Venus. I am so grateful for every opportunity that I have to be around her, to learn from her, to hit with her. But I do think this is my first week coming back, and I think that Venus is someone who deserves a partner who can give their all physically, emotionally, mentally when they’re on court with her,” Eala said.
In Washington, Venus Williams enjoyed a winning start against Quinn Gleason and Ulrikke Eikeri after a lacklustre display in her singles loss to Anastasia Potapova.
Venus Williams fails to break first-round singles losing streak
While Venus Williams has found some joy in doubles, the singles discipline has been a completely different story. Her 3-6, 3-6 loss against Potapova marked her 12th defeat on the trot. It has now been more than a year since she savoured a win in the singles event, with her last triumph dating back to July 22, 2025 against Peyton Stearns at the same venue.
During her lopsided encounter against Potapova, Williams preserved her serve till 3-3, but completely lost the plot for the remainder of the contest. The World No. 27 notched seven consecutive games to take the first set and establish a 3-0 lead in the second. Williams resisted for a bit but failed to turn the result in her favour.
Despite her glaring woes in singles, Venus Williams will hope to prolong her campaign in doubles action. The American-Russian pair will hope to oust China’s Tang Qianhui and Xu Yifan on Thursday.
