Former Chelsea and Bayern Munich legend Ajen Robben has now devoted himself to a sport where he is currently ranked 1980 in the world.
Most often, former professional football players will transition to coaching roles or sit and talk about football after retirement. After all, it’s the natural progression given their extensive background in the game.
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Arjen Robben, on the other hand, has chosen not to pursue the typical track in an attempt to conquer another sport.
The 41-year-old former Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea winger, who retired from football for the second time in July 2021 after returning to play for his childhood club Groningen, is now making a name for himself in the world of paddling.
Padel has become increasingly popular in recent years. In fact, it was recently termed “the world’s fastest-growing sport” by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), with around 25 million people participating globally.
One of them is Robben, whose passion for padel began when he played for Bayern Munich. “I used to play three times a week when I was in Germany,” he said.
The eight-time Bundesliga winner continued to work on his game, and in August this year, he won his first ranking points as a professional after participating in the FIP Bronze Westerbork tournament, which is part of the CUPRA FIP Tour.
Here he and his partner, Werner Lootsma, reached the main tournament after a 4–6, 6–3, 7–6 victory over Ralph Boekema and Mark Weldmate.
Unfortunately for the pair, they were knocked out in the top 32 by Sten Richters and Thijs Roper, who are ranked number 155 and 144 respectively in the world. Nevertheless, the former Netherlands international was praised by his opponents after the match. “He is the best former professional footballer we know who plays padel,” they said in their postmatch interview.
Robben knows that he is at the very beginning of his journey in the sport.
“I don’t think I can take myself too seriously,” he said after the defeat of Richters and Roper. “I started with low expectations. But I tried to fight on the pitch and score as many points as possible.”
Dutch football legend Arjen Robben replaced the pitch with the padel court in Rotterdam P1! Quick feet, sharp shots – he still has what it takes.
At the time of writing, Robben is ranked number 1,980 in the world with three ranking points.
Ultimately, he hopes to help grow the sport in his home country. “I talked about it sometimes with my wife,” he said. “Zlatan Ibrahimovic made padel an important sport in Sweden. I think I can do the same in the Netherlands.”
Arjen Robben is also an avid runner
The former Chelsea winger has previously described the completion of the Rotterdam marathon as coming “very close to winning a football title”.
Back in 2022, Robben took part in his first-ever marathon in Rotterdam alongside Erben Wennemars, a former Dutch speed skater, completing the gruelling 42.2-kilometre course in three hours, 13 minutes and 40 seconds.
Robben improved his time a year later, crossing the finish line in two hours and 58 minutes, which equates to 4.23 minutes per kilometer.
“I’m really broken, but I made it,” Robben told NOS after the race. “This comes very close to winning a major football title. Fantastic, I can tick this one.”
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