Manuel Santana

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Manuel Santana (1964)

Manuel "Manolo" Martínez Santana (born May 10, 1938 in Madrid , † December 11, 2021 in Marbella ) was a Spanish tennis player . He was particularly successful in the 1960s and was considered the world's best tennis player in 1966.

Life

Manuel Santana 1976

Santana got to know the game of tennis as a ball boy at the Velasquez tennis club in Madrid. As a clay court specialist, he won the French championships in 1961 and 1964 . The Australian tennis legend Rod Laver therefore called him a "magician on sand". He can play the most unbelievable angles and bring every opponent to despair with his topspin lobs and stop balls.

In 1965 Santana led the Spanish team through a surprising 4-1 victory over the USA in the final of the Davis Cup , for which he was awarded the Order of Isabella by dictator Franco . By consistently improving his volley , he achieved his first success on grass in the same year by winning the American championships in Forest Hills . In 1966 he crowned this by becoming the first Spaniard to win the Wimbledon Championships . In the following year, however, his title defense at Wimbledon came to an early end when he, the top seeded player, was eliminated in the first round against the American Charlie Pasarell - a negative record that only happened again to Lleyton Hewitt in 2003.

In 1968 he won the tennis competition at the Olympic Games in Mexico City , which was then part of the Olympic program as a demonstration sport for the first time since 1924. After the beginning of the Open Era , Santana largely withdrew from tournament operations; most recently he won in 1970 in Barcelona . After a brief comeback in the Davis Cup in 1973, he switched to coaching and worked for the New York team in the North American World Team Tennis League. He later coached Manuel Orantes and was captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team.

In 1984 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame . Most recently he was co-organizer of the Madrid Masters ; the Center Court des Caja Mágica is named after him. Santana died in December 2021 at the age of 83.

Grand Slam title

singles

No. year competition Final opponent Bottom line
1 1961 French championships ItalyItaly Nicola Pietrangeli 4: 6, 6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 0, 6: 2
2 1964 French championships ItalyItaly Nicola Pietrangeli 6: 3, 6: 1, 4: 6, 7: 5
3 1965 American championships South Africa 1961South Africa Cliff Drysdale 6: 2, 7: 9, 7: 5, 6: 1
4th 1966 Wimbledon Championships United StatesUnited States Dennis Ralston 6: 4, 11: 9, 6: 4

Double

No. year competition partner Final opponent Bottom line
1 1963 French championships AustraliaAustralia Roy Emerson South Africa 1961South Africa Gordon Forbes Abe Zegal
South Africa 1961South Africa  		6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 4

Sources and web links

Commons : Manuel Santana  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Javier Martinez: Muere Manolo Santana, el emprendedor y apasionado campeón que dio vida al tenis español. In: El Mundo . December 11, 2021, accessed December 11, 2021 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ a b Collins (2010)
personal data
SURNAME Santana, Manuel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Martínez Santana, Manuel (full name); Santana, Manolo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish tennis player and coach
BIRTH DATE May 10, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Madrid , Spain
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Marbella , Spain