From football to professional padel. 41-year-old Arjen Robben is building a new sports career
Robben officially hung up his boots in 2021 after playing for Groningen, returning to his boyhood club for one last challenge. After finishing his football career, he discovered a completely different discipline and became a professional padel player.
In August, he earned his first ranking points from the International Padel Federation by competing at the FIP Bronze Westerbork tournament in the Netherlands. His opponents noted that Robben is the best among former professional footballers who have taken padel seriously. Arjen himself admitted that he doesn't make a big deal out of his performances: he simply tries to fight and collect as many points as possible.
It's worth noting that Robben's passion for padel began during his time at Bayern. Back then, he played three times a week and was inspired by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who helped popularize padel in Sweden. Robben is currently ranked 1980th in the world and has three ranking points to his name.
Jan Novak
Dailysports's expert
