Love Lives of Tennis Stars: Serena Williams, Ben Shelton, More

“He really encouraged me to keep playing,” the 46-year-old raved of then-fiancé Andrea Preti last July, speaking to The Tennis Letter after her victory at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. “There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill.” 

Because, as she noted, her sport of choice is “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 it meant a lot that the Italian actor and producer she wed in December “encouraged me to get through this.”

Of course, the Williams sister support section won’t be the only happening spot when Wimbledon gets into full swing June 29. 

As top-ranked men Jannik Sinner and Ben Shelton hold court, they’ll have their own personal MVPs in girlfriends Laila Hasanovic and Trinity Rodman. (Current No. 2 player Carlos Alcaraz, single after he was briefly linked to model Brooks Nader, is sidelined with a wrist injury.) 

And to hear Shelton tell it, the professional soccer player is a key piece of his game plan. “I won a title at I think every tournament she’s been at this year,” he raved of U.S. women’s national team standout Rodman as he celebrated his victory in the Stuttgart Open June 14. “You’re definitely the good luck charm.”

Before he and the other athletes try their luck at Wimbledon, we’ve got all the stats on their winning romances.