MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — Former footballer Diego Forlán’s newfound career in professional tennis started with a doubles loss Wednesday at the Uruguay Open.

The 45-year-old Forlán and Federico Coria of Argentina lost 6-1, 6-2 to Boris Arias and Federico Zeballos in the first round of the ATP’s second-tier challenger tour.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” Forlán said. “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 be able to enjoy it and that’s what I did. So grateful to all the people who came, they filled the stadium.”

Forlán and Coria were granted wild-card entries to play doubles in the tournament.

The Uruguay striker retired from football in 2019 after playing with top clubs such as Manchester United, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan. Forlán was the 2010 World Cup’s best player and joint highest scorer; and netted twice in the 2011 Copa América final to help Uruguay win their first continental trophy in 16 years.

For the past five years, Forlán has taken part in amateur master’s tennis tournaments, and had some success that earned him the invitation to play in Uruguay’s biggest professional tournament.