Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan will make his professional tennis debut next month after being granted a wild card to compete in the doubles event at the Uruguay Open in Montevideo.
The 45-year-old, who retired from football in 2019, has been competing on the ITF Masters Tour since 2023 and will partner Argentine player Federico Coria in Montevideo. Forlan, once a promising tennis player in his teens, received a wild card for the Challenger Tour event. Coria, ranked world No. 101, reached a career-high of No. 49 in singles in 2023.
Forlan’s football career saw him win the Premier League with Manchester United and the Europa League with Atletico Madrid, among other honors. After retiring as a player, he briefly managed Uruguayan clubs Penarol and Atenas. He was awarded the Golden Ball at the 2010 World Cup after leading Uruguay to a third-place finish.
Forlan’s switch of sports is not sudden. The former Uruguay international has always played tennis and was a promising junior, before choosing to pursue a career in professional football instead.
He officially retired from football in 2019 after leaving Kitchee in Hong Kong, having also played in Japan and India following spells at United, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, and Internacional in Brazil.
How will his tennis career go? Given his age, don’t expect too much. Still, it’s an impressive achievement to even compete, and we’ll see just how far he can go with it. If he does well and earns some ranking points in this home event for him, maybe he could even earn entry into other events and compete for a while in 2025.
Main Photo Credit: Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]
