Venus Williams earns undergraduate degree

Venus Williams beat opponent Monica Puig in their first round match at the US Open yesterday

7-time Grand Slam winner and former World No. 1 Venus Williams has just been awarded her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, from Indiana University East on the 14th of August this year.

Williams began training to play professional tennis at the age of 10 alongside younger sister Serena, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Serena, currently World No. 1 is enjoying an extremely successful tennis year and progressed to round 2 of the US Open yesterday.

The older Williams received her diploma on campus in August following four years of study on the University's online program, finishing her courses this summer ahead of the Cincinnati Masters earlier this year.

In a statement to the university, Venus said "I've learned so much. It was always my dream to have a business degree, and I ended up going to art school so many times, but in the back of my head I felt like I needed the tools to be a better leader, to be a better planner, to be better at all of the things I wanted to do in my businesses because I'm so hands-on."

In addition to holding an associate degree in fashion design, Williams also runs her own clothing line, EleVen, in addition to several other business.

The university itself has an agreement with both the ATP and the Women’s Tennis Benefit Association, and will enable full-time players achieve their education goals. Williams is the first to have graduated under this program.