Venus Williams revealed the hilarious reason she has returned to tennis after her comeback victory this week – and it’s not for the money or glory.
The 45-year-old – who also announced that she is engaged to boyfriend Andrea Preti, 37 – won her first tennis match in 16 months on Tuesday night, turning back the clock to beat Peyton Stearns – who is 22 years her junior – in straight sets at the Citi Open in Washington D.C.
And during her post-match interview with Australian ex-tennis player Rennae Stubbs, Williams confessed that she had to get back on the court to keep reaping the rewards of her health insurance.
‘I had to come back for the insurance, they informed me earlier this year, I’m on COBRA [Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act],’ she told Stubbs as they laughed along with the crowd. ‘So that’s like, I got to get my benefits on. Started training.’
It is unclear whether Williams’ claim to have returned due to COBRA – which allows employees and their families to remain on their former employers’ sponsored health insurance plan for a finite period – was a serious one or not.
But Stubbs responded: ‘She’s actually not lying about that, cause we talked about that six years ago. You’re actually telling the truth. Insurance is hard.’
Venus Williams revealed the hilarious reason she has returned tennis after her comeback win
The 45-year-old, who also announced that she is engaged to boyfriend Andrea Preti (left), said she is back on a tennis court to keep reaping the rewards of her health insurance
The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion then replied: ‘You guys know what it’s like. Let me tell you, I’m always at the doctor so I need this insurance.’
Williams also revealed she is engaged during the interview with Stubbs after referring to Preti – who she was first linked with romantically in the summer of 2024 – as her ‘fiance’.
‘My fiancé is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing,’ she said to huge cheers and applause.
‘There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill. 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. So he encouraged me to get through this and it’s wonderful to be here. He’s never seen me play.’
Williams has made her tennis comeback after having surgery to remove fibroids from her uterus in her time away from the sport.
The tennis great opened up on her health scare earlier this month, admitting the fibroids led to heavy bleeding and intense cramps – while also accusing doctors of dimissing her symptoms.
Williams joked about her reason for returning to tennis in an interview with Rennae Stubbs
‘As bad as things were for me, crazy amounts of bleeding like you couldn’t imagine … my doctors told me it was normal,’ she told NBC News. ‘No one should have to go through this. You don’t have to live this way.’
Now, she says, she is ‘praying for good health’ during the twilight of her career.
‘Where I am at this year is so much different where I was at last year. It’s night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago,’ Williams said after winning in the doubles at the Citi Open on Monday.
‘At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if your health is not there. So, it definitely put it in perspective for me and maybe made it easier to make the decision to maybe come back out here and maybe play even freer.’
