Venus Williams has acquired an academic title. “Fashion designer. Extraordinairrrrrre! Hahaha. I’ll be able to get an entry position getting coffee for hopefully Anna Wintour.”

The new tennis year – Venus’s 10th in the top 10 – takes off on Monday with the Australian Open. At 27, Williams is an ancient on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. But have she and her sister Serena finally lost their dominance to a small ponytailed Belgian called Justine Henin? And is Venus chiefly a designer now anyway?