Personal Life
On December 13, 2007, Williams received her associate degree in Fashion Design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
Beginning the fall 2011 semester, Williams began pursuing a bachelor's degree in the school of business through an online degree program at Indiana University East in Richmond, Indiana. Her ultimate goal is to get an MBA in the near future.
Williams's longtime boyfriend, pro golfer Hank Kuehne, had been a visible presence since Wimbledon 2007, holding her hand during long rain delays and clapping support from the players' box along with her parents and younger sister Serena. "He's a great guy", Williams said. "He understands competition. He's very supportive. I love having him here and everyone else in the box, too." After rumors of engagement, the couple broke up in 2010, after which Kuehne dated and (in May 2011) married his current wife Andy.
In 2003, Venus and Serena Williams's older sister Yetunde Price, 31, was shot dead in Compton, California near the courts on which the sisters once practiced. Price was the Williams sisters' personal assistant. The Williams family issued this statement shortly after the death: "We are extremely shocked, saddened and devastated by the shooting death of our beloved Yetunde. She was our nucleus and our rock. She was a personal assistant, confidante, and adviser to her sisters, and her death leaves a void that can never be filled. Our grief is overwhelming, and this is the saddest day of our lives."
In 2011, Williams was forced to withdraw from the US Open before her second-round match, following a Sjögren's syndrome diagnosis.
Venus is now dating Cuban model, Elio Pis. Pis and Williams met when he modeled for her fashion line EleVen and has been a visible presence at her tournaments lately.
Read more about this topic: Venus Williams
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