Man Utd cult hero unrecognisable as he steps up pro career in completely different sport at 45

FORMER Manchester United star Diego Forlan is set to make his professional tennis debut next month.

The Uruguayan, 45, excelled at both football and tennis while growing up.

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Diego Forlan has been playing 45+ events on the ITF Tour this year[/caption]

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Forlan, now 45, plays tennis left-handed, despite being right-footed[/caption]

Having hung up his boots in 2019 following an illustrious football career, Forlan has since turned his attention towards his other great sporting passion.

This year, the former striker has competed in three 45+ events on tennis’ ITF Tour and is ranked No108 in that category.

He has now been handed the opportunity to play on the professional circuit, after being awarded a doubles wildcard into next month’s Uruguay Open.

Taking place in Forlan’s hometown of Montevideo, the Uruguay Open is on the ATP Challenger Tour, tennis’ second tier circuit.

For the event, the former Uruguay international has bagged himself an impressive partner.

Forlan will play alongside Federico Coria, who has extensive experience of playing in tennis’ biggest events, having featured in all four Grand Slams this year.

The 32-year-old is currently ranked No101 in the world, and as recently as last year was in the top 50.

Earlier this year he beat former British No1 Cameron Norrie.

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Forlan is set to play alongside tennis professional Federico Coria[/caption]

And he has tennis pedigree in his family, with brother Guillermo  having reached the Roland Garros final in 2004.

Upon news of his partnership with Forlan being announced, Coria wrote on Instagram: “Uffff, the double of the year.”

Earlier this year, Forlan spoke of his tennis exploits with The Athletic.

He said: “I need something where I can run. Golf, you play in beautiful places — I like it and I still do it, but I need something different, something more similar to football. I started training and playing tennis and I was getting better and better.

“At first, I would play the top players at the club and players from around Uruguay and it was easy for them to beat me. Then it became more difficult. Now I can win. At the club tournaments, I was losing in the first round, now I’m winning a lot of them.”

Forlan played 98 times for Man Utd between 2002 and 2004, scoring 17 goals.

He went on to excel in LaLiga with both Villarreal and Atletico Madrid – while earning 112 caps for his country, scoring 36 goals.

In addition to tennis, Forlan has also tried his hand at football management since hanging up his boots.

He took charge of Uruguayan side Penarol in 2020, before a spell with Atenas the following year.

Forlan is not the first decorated former footballer to be awarded an opportunity to play on the ATP Challenger Tour.

In 2017, Italian icon Paolo Maldini was handed a wildcard to play in a Challenger event in Milan aged 49.

Alongside partner Stefano Landonio, Maldini was beaten 6-1, 6-1 by Tomasz Bednarek and David Pel.

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Paolo Maldini played on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2017[/caption]