Diego Forlan is more accustomed to having the ball at his feet but now he’s trying to make waves as a tennis player.
The former Manchester United and Uruguay star is now part of the International Tennis Federation.
He’s trying to force a little part-time profession playing tennis – and it would appear that he’s pretty useful at it.
This week, Forlan has stepped out of his comfort zone and taken to the clay courts in Lima for a Masters Tour event in Peru.
But, how did Forlan get on whilst trying his luck on the tennis court? Let’s take a look…
Diego Forlan tries his luck as a tennis player
The Uruguayan performer helped his country reach a World Cup semi-final in 2010.
In total, he made 112 appearances for his country and found the back of the net 36 times.
Now, he’s desperately trying to avoid the net as he picks his racket up and tries to make ground in tennis.
This week the Masters series moved to Peru and this was the first time that Forlan has played tennis outside of Uruguay.
He did well too, narrowly losing out in the quarter-final to Brazilian player Antonio Amaro da Silva Filho.
In the first three matches he played, however, he won at an absolute canter.
First up, he played Chilean player Gonzalo Carreno and won 6-0, 6-2.
Next up he faced the home favourite Jorge Hernandez and won 6-0, 6-1 in a comprehensive rout.
In round three he was given a bit more of a test by Chilean Pablo Rojas-Holch but overcame him 6-3, 6-3.
The defeat wasn’t ideal for Forlan but clearly he’s got something about him and he will hope to go deep at more tournaments as the year progresses.
Forlan has history with tennis that goes way back
The man who played for United, Villarreal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and a host of South American clubs is now 45.
As a result, his chances of being a professional tennis player are well behind him but things might have been different.
Forlan was 16 when he had to make the choice between persuing tennis as a career or professional football.
Clearly, he felt he was better equipped to play football and looking at what he achieved in his career it’s clear he made the right call.
Tennis looks to be close to Forlan’s heart though and he’s now turned his attentions to the ITF tour.
Forlan has some work to do in order to climb the rankings.
He currently sits in 424th place and if he does enter more tournaments he will hope to improve on that standing before the year is out.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
