Diego Forlan embraced a brand new chapter in his athletic profession, stepping onto the tennis court docket at house in Uruguay regardless of a troublesome doubles loss.
The former Manchester United star entered the Uruguay Open in Montevideo with a wild-card entry, becoming a member of the Challenger Tour occasion only a tier beneath the elite ATP circuit.
Paired with Argentina’s Federico Coria, ranked No. 101, Forlan confronted a 6-1, 6-2 defeat towards Bolivia’s Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos.
Yet the consequence mattered little to the 45-year-old soccer legend, who represented Uruguay greater than 100 instances and was merely savoring his enterprise into a distinct skilled sport.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to play with Fede,” he informed claytenis.com. “It’s not straightforward for him to enter these tournaments with an newbie beside him. I hadn’t even imagined, not to mention dreamed of this. It’s fantastic to have performed towards professionals – it takes braveness to do it.
“The atmosphere on this court that I love so much was incredible; my friends, my family were here. It was very special, and I enjoyed it. I felt like a tennis player for a moment.”
Both groups held serve to start out the match, however Arias and Zeballos rapidly pulled away after incomes a break within the third recreation of the primary set.
The second set adopted in related style, with Forlan and Coria struggling to comprise the high-powered serves of their opponents, whereas Forlan was unable to carry serve through the contest, which lasted solely 47 minutes.
“I’ll take with me a few volleys, a good smash, and some forehands during the exchanges. Overall, I’m pleased,” he stated.
Forlan signed with Manchester United from Argentina’s Independiente in 2002 and was a part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s squad that received the 2003 Premier League title and the 2004 FA Cup.
After making 98 appearances and scoring 17 objectives, Forlan joined Spanish aspect Villarreal and later performed for Atletico Madrid in addition to Inter Milan earlier than spells in Brazil, Japan, Uruguay, India and Hong Kong.
He scored 36 objectives in 112 appearances for his nation, ending as joint prime objective scorer on the 2010 World Cup as Uruguay secured a third-place end in South Africa, and received the 2011 Copa America.
Forlan was a promising junior tennis participant and has continued to play since retiring from soccer in 2019.
He has had some success on the senior tennis circuit and stated he would now focus his efforts on tournaments within the over-45 class.
Source: www.dailysabah.com