Former Manchester United and Uruguay striker Diego Forlan will move into professional tennis after it was confirmed he would play doubles at next month’s Uruguay Open.
The 45-year-old was considered one of the best strikers in world football at the height of his career and hung up his boots for the final time in 2018.
The Uruguayan is known to be a passionate tennis fan and has gone viral several times over the past 15 to 18 months after playing on the Tennis Masters Circuit.
Forlan is a ranked player in the 35+, 40+, and 45+ age categories on the ITF Masters Professional Tennis Tour, and made headlines by winning three matches in straight sets at the ITF MT1000 Lima 45+ back in June.
However, he will now make his ATP debut at the Challenger-level event in his home city of Montevideo next month, held from 11-17 November.
Forlan will be in doubles action alongside Argentina’s Federico Coria, who was once ranked as high as world No 49 on the ATP Tour singles rankings.
Widely considered a talented tennis player during his youth, Forlan ultimately decided to pursue a professional football career during his prime athletic years.
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Globally, he is probably best known for his exploits with Uruguay, scoring 36 goals in 112 games across his international career and being his nation’s record top scorer until being usurped by Luis Suarez.
The peak of his Uruguayan career came at the 2010 World Cup where he helped guide his nation to a fourth-place finish.
He finished the tournament as the joint-top scorer with five goals and was also selected as the player of the tournament by FIFA.
At club level, he famously struggled during his time at Manchester United, scoring 17 goals in 98 games for the Red Devils.
However, during his three-year spell at the club he was still able to lift the Premier League and Community Shield titles in 2003, and the FA Cup title in 2004.
After leaving Manchester he played in Spain for Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, winning the Europa League and UEFA Super Cup at the latter club in 2010.
Following his retirement in 2018, he has had brief stints in management in Uruguay – but now he is looking to translate his football success into tennis triumphs.
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