Lleyton Hewitt signs with Microsoft

Microsoft has helped Lleyton Hewitt to make amongst the most shocking “you gave me money so I’ll say nice stuff about you” statements in the entire history of videogaming.

On the back of Hewitt being paid to appear on the cover of Microsoft’s recently announced tennis title Top Spin, he said, “It is truly an honour to be selected by Microsoft Game Studios as a Top Spin cover athlete. The key to a great tennis game is allowing fans to feel what it’s like to be on the court and play against the world’s best. Microsoft has done it with Top Spin.”

Urgh!

However, Top Spin does look like a licensing triumph, with a wealth of stars signed up for the Xbox title, expected later this year.

As well as Hewitt, all of the following tennis stars are featured:

Tommy Robredo
Jan-Michael Gambill
Michael Chang
Gustavo Kuerten
Sebastian Grosjean
James Blake
Daniela Hantuchova
Martina Hingis
Barbara Schett
Ashley Harkleroad
Elena Dementieva
Meghann Shaughnessy
Amanda Coetzer

A who’s who of the tennis world, no? It might, however, leave Sega out in the cold somewhat for its next Virtua Tennis outing.