Reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams was spotted playing a whole different set of doubles with her boyfriend and former bodyguard Davide Tomassoni at an Italian resort recently. And while Venus has denied having found love in the past, a staff member at Ancona’s Hotel Federico II where the two were lounging reports the pair were definitely an item.
“They were constantly kissing and cuddling and holding hands by the pool or on the sun lounger looking into each other’s eyes,” says one staff member who caught their poolside exploits. Another onlooker agreed, saying: “Davide and Venus were able to walk around without anyone bothering them… They really enjoyed each other’s company.”
Following her second consecutive Wimbledon triumph in July, the 6ft 1in powerhouse jetted off to Italy to meet Davide’s family in his hometown of Jesi in the Apennine mountains. Yet her father and coach Richard has frowned on the social pursuits of Venus and sister Serena in the past out of fear a romance might distract the two. Venus herself seemed to agree, saying in a recent interview: “I can’t have my mind anywhere else.” However, it seems she’s been seeing Davide on the side since the two first met in May 1999.
Playing at the 1999 Italian Open, Venus hired Davide, a muscular 25-year-old Italian student from the University of Florence, to protect her. Since meeting, the two have previously rendezvoused in the US, London and Italy.
A secretary at Davide's parents property business said, "Davide and Venus are seeing each other but I don't know anything else."
Venus has reportedly just swapped rankings with Jennifer Capriati who moved up to number two from number three. The women are currently battling it out at California’s Acura Classic, which marks the return of the decidedly unwed Russian beauty Anna Kournikova.
