Maldini beaten in professional tennis debut

Italy football legend Paolo Maldini suffered a doubles defeat in his professional tennis debut at the Aspria Tennis Cup on Tuesday.

Maldini was given a wildcard to partner his coach Stefano Landonio in the ATP Challenger Tour tournament in Milan.

The former Italy captain became accustomed to having huge expectations on his shoulders during his illustrious football career, but the pressure was off when he came up against Tomasz Bednarek and Dutchman David Pel.

So it came as no surprise when Maldini and Landonio were soundly beaten 6-1 6-1 in just 42 minutes a day after the AC Milan great's 49th birthday.