Diego Forlan to make professional tennis debut at next month’s Uruguay Open

Diego Forlan is set to make his professional tennis debut at the ATP Uruguay Open in November.

The 45-year-old Uruguayan and former football star will team up with Argentina’s Federico Coria in the men’s doubles at the ATP Challenger.

After leaving tennis for football as a teenager, Forlan made a comeback to the sport in 2023 and has already competed in three ITF events this year.

An announcement from the tournament organisers said: “Attention tennis and sports fans! This year at the Uruguay Open, we have an UNMISSABLE duo in doubles: Argentine tennis player Federico Coria and former Uruguayan football player Diego Forlan.”

The former Manchester United and Atletico Madrid forward will join up with Argentine Federico Coria for the doubles event in his home country.

Interestingly, unlike his famous right foot on the football pitch, Forlan plays tennis as a left-hander. He currently holds the 108th spot in the 45+ ITF singles ranking having won 5 of the 8 matches he’s played so far.

The tournament will be played at the Challenger Tour level, the second-highest professional tier. Coria has a career-high singles ranking of 49.

As a footballer, Forlan was something of a cult hero at Manchester United, memorably scoring both goals in a 2-1 win at Liverpool in December 2002. He also scored a 90th-minute winner against Chelsea a few weeks later as Sir Alex Ferguson’s team won the Premier League title.

Diego Forlan won the Golden Ball for best player at the 2010 World Cup, retired from football in 2018 and has been playing seniors tennis in his home country; he’ll partner former top-50 player Federico Coria at Uruguay Open.