Robben from football to padel: debut in the CUPRA FIP Tour. And the Dutch stars congratulate him: “The best footballer with a pala”

Arjen Robben, a football champion with who played for Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, among others, has never hidden his passion for padel: “Zlatan Ibrahimovic made it an important sport in Sweden, I think I can do the same in the Netherlands”. Arjen, however, has gone further than Ibra, playing his first CUPRA FIP Tour tournament and also achieving his first victory in the qualifying draw at the FIP Bronze in Westerbork.

Robben tried to bring the same magic he showed throughout his career with the ball glued to his left foot to the court with a pala: teaming up with his partner Werner Lootsma, he cancelled six match points before beating Ralph Boekema and Mark Weldmate (the latter also a former footballer) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, qualifying for the main draw, where, however, the pair was defeated 6-1, 6-0 by Sten Richters and Thijs Roper, who were nevertheless surprised by his level. “He’s the best former professional footballer we know who plays padel”, commented Richters and Roper, ranked 155th and 144th respectively in the FIP ranking.

Hundreds of spectators were drawn to the stands by the presence of a Dutch football legend, who discovered padel in Germany (“I played three times a week”) and had previously played with Robin van Persie, Juan Lebron and Ale Galan. Such is his passion for padel that he had a padel court built in his garden. “I don’t think I can take myself too seriously – he said –. I started with low expectations, even though I tried to fight on the court and score as many points as possible”. And who knows, maybe the FIP Bronze in Westerbork was the start of a new career.

Photo credits: rcwesterbock