Paolo Maldini thrashed in straight sets in first tennis match as a professional
Italian soccer legend and doubles partner Stefano Landoni last just 42 minutes in ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Milan
PAOLO MALDINI was beaten in straight sets in his first tennis match as a professional.
The former AC Milan and Italy skipper suffered a doubles defeat, lasting just 42 minutes with partner Stefano Landonio at the Aspria Tennis Cup.
Soccer legend Maldini, aged 49, retired from the game in 2009 but followed up his love of tennis and won a qualifier for the Aspria tournament in Milan.
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The event is part of the ATP Challenger Tour and a decent crowd saw Maldini and Landonio, also his coach, gunned down 6-1, 6-1 by Tomasz Bednarek and David Pel.
The result was no great surprise given Maldini's age - he celebrated his birthday on Monday - and the fact he was contesting a tournament ranked just one tier below the top-level ATP World Tour.
Landonio, 46, was once ranked 975th in the world, and has coached Maldini since he retired from football.
Maldini, capped 126 times by Italy, made his AC Milan debut in 1985 and played his final Serie A match for them in May 2009, a month before his 41st birthday.
A defender, he won seven Serie A titles with Milan, as well as the Champions League - or the European Cup, as it was then - five times.
Maldini never wanted to become a football coach, turning down the chance to his former manager Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea.