Over a glorious quarter of a century he starred for AC Milan on the football pitch, now at 49 years of age Paolo Maldini will feature in a tennis tournament in Milan.

Maldini, now working as a director at Miami FC, made it through a qualifying tournament to earn a doubles wildcard for the Aspria Tennis Cup (starts June 26), which is part of the Challenger circuit, the level below the ATP.

His partner and coach Stefano Landonio said: “He’s got a good service, he doesn’t have a speciality shot but he has no weak points either.”

Landonio told Il Tennis Italiano: “We knew we could play well. It was our first competitive tournament, but we previously played some exhibition matches with Paolo for charity activities. Having started to play so late, just 5-6 years ago, he struggles a little bit on a technique level.

“Considering what he did in the past, he has amazing mental and physical abilities. Mentally he doesn’t struggle in the key moments, he is really strong.”

Maldini won 26 trophies with AC Milan including five Champions Leagues before finally hanging up his boots in 2009 aged 41. He also played 126 times for Italy.