Justine Henin has been the number one female tennis player since 2006 and it seems natural that companies want to associate their name with hers, especially now, when she probably has a bit more free time - since she has just (surprisingly) retired from professional tennis. Even though she said she would focus on her tennis school and charity, it seems that she also has time for other projects - and the gaming world loves her even more for that!

Empire of Sports will be a MMORPG bringing a host of popular sport games (tennis, football/soccer, skiing, basketball, bobsleigh and athletics) and it promises to deliver the most real and complete sporting experience. And now, since the developers, F4, have announced their collaboration with Justine Henin, we tend to believe them.

However, even though the former tennis player has agreed to lend her name to the online title, she will unfortunately not be a playable character - not even a computer-controlled one to play against. She will be an NPC who will offer players tennis-based missions and teach some advanced tennis techniques (that will be useful in the game as well as in real life). Take it as a bit of free training, if you want. And that is a lot!

Henin said that the "amazing role-playing features of Empire of Sports" would help lead children to act more responsibly and also to take part in real life tennis. She also suggested that Empire of Sports could be a great game to encourage its players to get out and play some real tennis, too. This usually doesn't happen, but one can never know.

Empire of Sports is currently in a "Private Launch" phase. Gamers wanting to join the online community can apply to become one of its VIPs (Very Important Player - doesn't it sound much cooler than it actually is?) online. For more information, check the official website.