ATP Tour

Bautista Agut hung up his racquet, but now he’s lacing up his boots

At 38 years of age, Roberto Bautista Agut is not ready to slow down just yet.

On 12 July this year, Bautista Agut officially announced his retirement from professional tennis.

“That’s life. The time has come, because I feel it has”, the Spaniard told ATPTour.com on the day that he went public with his decision to leave behind him a 700-match career that included 12 titles and a career-high No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

But what was a ‘goodbye’ to tennis has now become a ‘see you soon’ to sport. Bautista Agut has signed to CD Els Ibarsos, a football club from his native Castellon in Spain, which plays in the Primera FFCV (the seventh division of Spanish football).

“It’s a new stage of life that’s making me very happy”, Bautista Agut wrote on Instagram.

“May the good start continue!”, the Spaniard added after making his debut in a preseason match in which he scored two goals in his team’s 4-2 win over Morella FC.

Bautista’s move to football is perhaps not that surprising. The Spaniard used to play for the youth teams at Villarreal CF, the club that finished third in La Liga (Spanish First Division) last season.

Until the age of 14, Bautista played both tennis and football before finally choosing the racquet sport and going on to produce a superb career. Twenty four years on, Bautista Agut is returning home to be close to his loved ones and to enjoy one of his great sporting passions in a place where he has a special connection.