Former Chelsea and Real Madrid winger Arjen Robben has turned professional in a new sport four years after retiring. The legendary Dutch player is one of the greatest players of his generation and has won countless trophies, including the 2013 Champions League. He also won national titles with three countries and played in the 2010 World Cup final.
Since ending his football career in 2021, the 41-year-old has developed a burning passion for a whole new sport. He currently plays padel, a racket game similar to tennis and squash. His popularity is booming, and Robben has also been caught up in the hype.
He doesn’t just do it for fun either. The former winger is now embarking on a professional career in the sport and has achieved world rankings.
Earlier this year, Robben competed in the FIP Bronze Westerbork competition in the Netherlands, where he earned his first ranking points from the International Padel Federation.
Teaming up with Werner Rotsma, the pair overcame six match points to defeat Ralf Bouckema and Mark Weldmate, reaching the main draw in the process.
However, in his next match, he lost to Sten Richters and Theis Roper, who are both ranked within the top 200 in the world.
Despite the gravity of the defeat, Robben and his partner were watched by hundreds of adoring fans and the former Chelsea winger made a huge impression on court.
Afterwards, Richters and Roper said, “He is the best former professional soccer player we know who plays padel.”
Meanwhile, Robben commented, “I don’t think we should take ourselves too seriously. We started with low expectations, but we fought on the court and tried to score as many points as possible.”
He has been playing padel since his days at Bayern Munich and previously said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of former footballers who switched to padel.
Robben pointed to the influence of another sporting legend, saying: “Zlatan Ibrahimovic made padel an important sport in Sweden. I think I can do the same in the Netherlands.”
The iconic winger is currently ranked 1,980th in the world with three ranking points. He is far from the top spot, with Agustín Tapia and Arturo Coello joint highest on the leaderboard with 20,200 points each.
Incredibly, fifth place Franco Stupachuk is closer to Robben than the top of the world rankings. Stupachuk currently has 8,835 points, 8,832 ahead of Robben and 11,365 ahead of Tapia and Coelo.
