From football to tennis: Legendary Italy and AC Milan footballer Paolo Maldini qualifies for a professional tennis tournament on the ATP Challenger Tour

He is very good at what he does, as a footballer he played as a left back and a central defender for AC Milan and the Italy national team, he spent all his 25 seasons with Milan and retired at the age of 41 in 2009, as a footballer, he won 26 trophies with Milan, as a footballer, he was considered to have been one of the greatest defender of all time and has been described as an icon and gentleman of the game.

Maldini spent 31 years with AC Milan, 24 of them as a professional, winning seven league titles and the Champions League five times

He is retired from football but not tired of sports. Born as Paolo Cesare Maldini, on the 26^th of June, 1968. The Italian football legend is currently into tennis, and he is also good at it, he has qualified for the professional tennis tournament on the ATP challenge tour.

The 48-year-old, capped 126 times by Italy, won a qualifier in Italy with doubles partner Stefano Landonio.

Landonio, 46, was once ranked 975 in the world and has coached Maldini since he retired in 2009.

The pair will compete at the Aspria Tennis Cup, a Challenger Tour event in Milan which begins on 29 June.

The Challenger Tour is the tier below the top-level ATP World Tour, which features the best players in the world.

He will be 49 on the day the Aspria Tennis Cup begins, with 16 doubles pairings competing on clay.