It is being widely reported that world No1 Justine Henin is set to announce her retirement from tennis at the age of 25. The Belgian player pulled out of this week's Internazionali BNL d'Italia following her shock defeat to Dinara Safina in the third round of the Qatar Telecom German Open citing fatigue.

Henin has won seven grand slam titles during her career including both the US and Australian Opens, but she has not competed in a WTA Tour since losing in April to Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Despite her inconsistent form this year, Henin would still have been considered one of the favourites at the next Grand Slam event, the French Open at Roland Garros, winning the title for the last three years in a row.

Her retirement would come a year after her compatriot and former world No1 Kim Clijsters walked away from the game and would also earn comparisons with the then men's world No1 Bjorn Borg's decision to quit tennis in 1983 at the age of 26.