Catwalk on Centre Court

Henman Hill, with its comedy facepaint and sensible flasks of tea, is so last year; Wimbledon 2008 is a whole new world of glamour. A bevy of long-legged, highly paid teenage eastern European beauties, parading eye-popping outfits in front of a star-studded audience whose seats are determined in a fierce hierarchy - why, it's as if Paris fashion week has been transported to SW19. Forget The Devil Wears Prada; this summer, the devil wears dry-wick technology Nike.

In 1949, Gertrude "Gorgeous Gussie" Moran caused a furore by wearing decorative lacy knickers under her tennis dress; players have dressed to get noticed ever since. There is a lot of talk from the sportswear designers about the functionality of the clothes: Maria Sharapova's Nike outfit has "a modified racer back for better range of motion". However, I can't work out what this means, other than that it's not too tight for her to move her shoulders, which seems blindingly obvious. Nike notes that "Maria will also be wearing Tiffany Swing Triple Drop Earrings with diamonds set in platinum, that retail for $5,000." If you can't blind the opposition with sport-science, blind them with diamonds.

What is new is the extent to which tennis stars are incorporating not just glamor, but trend. Roger Federer's penchant for retro, garden-party attire is well documented, but on Monday he stepped on to court in a cardigan - the premier success story in menswear of the past two years. This autumn, the style looks set to get a boost from the Brideshead Revisited movie, which designers are beginning to reference on the catwalk. The decision by the No 3 seed Sharapova to ditch a miniskirt for shorts reflects what style-savvy women have been doing for the past two summers. Of her pleated, bib-fronted top, Sharapova said: "It's kind of a tuxedo look, very simple lines, classic." Tuxedo-styling is a strong theme in women swear for next season.

Urszula Radwanska's mini-tutu is no less on trend. Givenchy's most recent haute couture collection was inspired by Odette/Odile from Swan Lake, and has sparked a rash of ballet-theming on the high street. Ana Ivanovic proved that she is on top form in styling by swapping the puffball number she wore in Paris for a petal-shaped skirt that has echoes of Prada's flower-fairy themed summer collection.

The Williams sisters, of course, are a law unto themselves. Venus chose a neckline that owed more to the red carpets of LA than the catwalks of Paris. Serena's on-trend mini-trench was all the more fashionable for being unseasonable (fashionistas always start wearing autumn trends in high summer) but the effect, as always with Serena, was pure showbiz. Had John McEnroe been in the commentary box yesterday when she strolled on court to warm up in a trench coat, he would have known just what to drawl: "Serena, you cannot be serious." But serious is exactly what she is. And Wimbledon has had a top-to-toe makeover.