Uruguay icon Forlan makes professional tennis debut

Former Uruguayan footballer Diego Forlan and Argentine Federico Coria lost 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday in their doubles debut at the Uruguay Open against Bolivians Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos.

The Rio de la Plata duo, who drew applause and chants from the local crowd that filled the stands of the Carrasco Lawn Tennis in Montevideo to see the two-time Golden Boot winner, suffered a tough defeat at the hands of a duo that won comfortably.

The efforts of the Argentinean, ranked 101st in the ATP ranking in singles and 413th in doubles, who shone with several winning points, and the Uruguayan, who, left-handed for the racquet -despite being a right-footed player in football- was a finalist in the MT400 in Asuncion, were not enough to overcome the solidity of Arias and Zeballos.

At the end of the match, Forlan thanked Coria for agreeing to play with him and those who came to watch the match in which, in less than an hour, the Bolivian duo, both ranked 109 in doubles, won the match.

After the defeat, Diego Forlán reviewed what happened in the match and said he enjoyed it regardless of the result: “I enjoyed it a lot, I knew that the probability was very high that it was going to be a difficult match for us, it was logical, so I prepared myself to at least not have such a bad time and to enjoy it and that's what I did. So I was grateful to all the people who came, they filled the stadium”, he said in a press conference after losing to Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos.

“I hope they enjoyed a little bit, but well, I think that with Zeballos and Arias, who are great doubles players, at least they saw some nice tennis and some of Fede's moves, some of mine, some of the little ones, at least there was some nice entertainment,” he concluded.

 

November 14, 2024