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Forlán feeling 'positive' for professional debut on tour
The Guardian
|November 13, 2024
Stakes in former footballer's doubles match are not high but the YouTube vlog is expected to be spectacular
Before the start of the Uruguay Open, the organisers of the second-string ATP Challenger tournament had an announcement. After flooding their social media pages with references to just one participant during the week, finally, a date was confirmed for the unmissable match and tickets were on sale: "Get ready for an epic night that will remain in the memory of the Uruguay Open," they wrote.
It is incredibly rare for any first-round match on the humble challenger or future tours to generate enough attention to warrant the tournament organisers planning its exact date and time in advance. In doubles, which is usually banished to the outer courts in front of nobody at all, it is almost unheard of. But this is no normal occasion. Today at 10am local time, 1pm GMT, after weeks of publicity, interviews and hype, Diego Forlán, the former footballer for Manchester United, Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Inter, will make his professional tennis debut alongside Federico Coria of Argentina in Montevideo.
This story is from the November 13, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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