Former world number one tennis player Angelique Kerber is getting married to entrepreneur Franco Bianco next week in a secret ceremony, according to German newspaper Bild. The three-time Grand Slam champion declined to comment on the upcoming wedding, with the exact date and location remaining closely guarded secrets.
Kerber and Bianco have been together for several years and have two children, three-year-old daughter Liana and 16-month-old son Ben. The couple first met in 2018 during a visit to his gym, but they have maintained a strictly private personal life throughout their relationship.
Bild first revealed the relationship in January 2022 when Bianco accompanied the German star to the Australian Open in Melbourne. Even in her autobiography, A Question of Will, Kerber avoided mentioning Bianco by name, featuring him only in a background photograph without identification.
Tennis stars expected at private ceremony
According to Bild journalist Sebastian Kayser, the wedding is expected to serve as a major reunion for prominent figures in international women's tennis. Former Polish world number two Agnieszka Radwanska is among those reported to be attending the event.
Kayser reported that Kerber's best friend and former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic is expected to attend. Other close personal friends from the tour, including former Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki and Kerber's long-time coach Torben Beltz, are also expected to be present.
End of a distinguished career
The upcoming wedding follows Kerber's official retirement from professional tennis in June. She marked her retirement after an exhibition match against Ivanovic on the central court in Bad Homburg, Germany, where Polish star Iga Swiatek watched from the stands.
Speaking after her final appearance on court, Kerber said she was definitively retiring from the sport, adding that the chapter was closed and a new one could begin.
During her professional career, the German player built an impressive record at the highest level of women's tennis. She won 14 singles titles on the WTA Tour and spent a total of 34 weeks at the top of the WTA rankings as world number one.
Kerber enjoyed her breakthrough Grand Slam campaign in 2016, claiming titles at both the Australian Open and the US Open before earning an Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro. She captured her third Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon in 2018.
