Justine Henin - from centre court to centre stage

Belgium's former world number one tennis player, Justine Henin, will take to the stage later this year when she makes her theatre debut.

According to the Belgian news agency Belga, Henin is slated to play the part of Chloé in the play "Arrête de pleurer Pénélope!" from October.

It's a long-running comedy that has played to packed houses throughout France and which revolves around the lives of three 30-something women "waving goodbye" to their youth.

The role of Chloé is described as "an intellectual who's always asking question about love and never understanding it."

Although it'll be Henin's first attempt at treading the boards, it won't be her first stab at acting.

In May this year she appeared in an episode of the daily French soap opera "Plus belle la vie", although regular viewers might be forgiven for having missed it as she popped up on screen for just a few seconds to deliver her lines.

And she has also recently appeared on Belgian television in a programme entitled "Les douze travaux de Justine Henin", which as the name suggests challenged her to undertake certain tasks such as "singing" (you can judge for yourself whether you think the inverted commas are necessary) alongside singer-songwriter Salvatore Adamo.

Ahem. Perhaps the kindest thing to say is that her performance was one which didn't exactly live up to her abilities on the tennis court.

And if it's an indication of what theatre-goers to the Belgian capital can expect later this year, maybe now is the time to rethink her job options.

Henin of course had a glittering career in tennis, winning seven Grand Slam titles, including four at the French Open. She also picked up the gold medal at the Olympic games in Athens in 2004.

The only title that eluded the 27-year-old, in spite of two appearances in the tournament's final, was on the grass courts of Wimbledon.

To the surprise of many in the tennis world, she quit the professional circuit in May 2008 just weeks before she would have defended her title at Roland Garros.