Tennis-Soccer great Maldini beaten on pro tennis debut

AC Milan and Italy great Paolo Maldini made an inauspicious start to his professional tennis career when he and doubles partner Stefano Landonio were beaten 6-1 6-1 at the Aspria Tennis Cup on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old and his coach Landonio, 46, received a wildcard for the second tier Challenger Tour event but were thrashed by Poland's Tomasz Bednarek and Dutchman David Pel in their first round match on the Milan clay.

Maldini, widely considered one of the best left backs of all time, played more than 700 matches for AC Milan, winning seven Italian league titles and five European Cups before retiring in 2009. He won 126 caps for Italy.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)