On Thursday, December 13, former world number one Venus Williams will receive her associate’s degree in Fashion Design from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.

Williams, who has been attending the college since the fall of 1999, has been dedicated to finishing her studies in the midst of Grand Slam wins to receive this long sought after degree. That deserves respect!

“I love fashion and the idea that I am using my design education to actually create clothing and footwear that reflects my personality and energy both on and off the court,” said Williams of her new line, EleVen.

Andre West, chair of the Fashion programs at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale said, “Venus has been a blessing to the department in so many ways, her drive and focus as we know is somewhere in the stratosphere. She has taken that same drive that she shows on the court all the way to the cutting table, sewing machine and computer.” (via On the Baseline)

Unbelievable, but true – Venus Williams injured her hamstring during the off-season! On Tuesday, Williams teamed up with talk show host Regis Philbin, and they played against ATP Tour player Mark Knowles and TV producer Michael Gelman.

The match was aired on television on Wednesday, during Live with Regis and Kelly. Then Williams made a confession: "I pulled my hamstring. I got up this morning and hobble hobble. But I'm used to injuries. I just block them out." (sources: On the Baseline, World Entertainment News Network)

Venus and Serena Williams are planning to join forces for the 2008 Australian Open doubles competition. The sisters are always an attraction when they team up, even though their current ranking in doubles is 9999.

The last time we saw them together on court was at this year’s Wimbledon, but then they had to withdraw in the second round because of Serena's injured thimb.

Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley is very excited to have these two champions play together:

“The Williams sisters in full flight on the same side of the net is one of the great sights in tennis,” Tiley said. “They are also one of the most skilled pairings on the world circuit with an incredibly successful record in doubles.”

The Williams sisters are one of only five pairings in women's tennis history to win a career doubles grand slam. They have won six majors (Wimbledon and Australian Open twice, US Open and French Open) and an Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000.

Venus Williams, originally in seventh place in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships points standing, has been forced to withdraw. Williams suffered dizziness during the US Open earlier this year and has been told by doctors not to play in the November 6-11 Madrid event.

As you know, only eight singles players can compete for a share of the $3-million prize purse at the world’s richest annual women's sporting event. Justine Henin, Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze had qualified before. In my previous post I wrote that Maria Sharapova didn’t qualify because Daniela Hantuchova won the Generali Ladies Linz title, but now that Venus Williams has pulled out of the tournament, both the Russian and the Slovakian will play in Madrid.

This will be Sharapova’s fourth and Hantuchova’s second appearance in singles at the Sony Ericsson Championships. Sharapova was a champion at the event in 2004 and has been a semifinalist each of the last two years.

France's Virginie Razzano, ranked 33rd in the world, caused a huge upset by beating top seed Venus Williams in the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships final on Saturday.

World number eight Williams, who won last week’s Tier IV tournament in Korea, had three match points in the second set tiebreak before losing 4-6 7-6 6-4 to fifth-seeded Frenchwoman.

"I never felt the match was lost, even with three match points against me," said the 24-year-old, whose run in Tokyo will see her climb into the top 30 for the first time.

Williams was troubled by a leg injury, but paid tribute to her opponent, saying: "Congratulations to her. It's definitely a great way for her to end the year."

This is Razzano’s second career title. Last week she won Guangzhou International Women's Open in Guangzhou, China. (via Reuters)