Manuel Santana
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| Full name | Manuel Martínez Santana | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Country (sports) |
 Spain
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| Residence | Marbella, Spain | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
10 May 1938 Madrid, Spain |
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| Turned pro | 1968 (amateur tour from 1956) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1977 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1984 (member page) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Singles | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 113–44 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career titles | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1966, Lance Tingay) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Singles results | |||||||||||||||||||
| French Open | W (1961, 1964) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | W (1966) | ||||||||||||||||||
| US Open | W (1965) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | W (1968, demonstration) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Doubles | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 13–19 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |||||||||||||||||||
| French Open | W (1963) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wimbledon | SF (1963) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Other doubles tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | F (1968, demonstration) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Team competitions | |||||||||||||||||||
| Davis Cup | F (1965Ch, 1967Ch, 1970) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Manuel Martínez Santana, also known as Manolo Santana (born 10 May 1938), is a former amateur tennis champion from Spain who was ranked World No. 1 in 1966. He was born in Madrid.
Before winning Wimbledon he was quoted as saying "Grass is just for cows." He thought that tennis should be played on artificial surfaces as opposed to lawn tennis courts like the ones at Wimbledon. This statement has been echoed throughout the years by numerous players including Ivan Lendl, Marat Safin, Marcelo Ríos, and, despite his 1973 victory at Wimbledon, Jan Kodeš.
Santana was born in Madrid, and began his career as a ball boy and "picked up" the game. In 1965, Santana led Spain to unexpected victory over the US in the Davis Cup, and he became a national hero. Despite his previous Grand Slam successes in the French Championships (1961, 1964) and the U.S. Championships (1965), Santana's win at the 1966 Wimbledon lawn tennis championships was a surprise, where he defeated the sixth seed Dennis Ralston 6–4, 11–9, 6–4. This was his last Grand slam title. His last big tournament win was in 1970 by winning Barcelona where he defeated Rod Laver 6–4 6–3 6–4. He also captured the doubles title in Barcelona that year when he teamed with Lew Hoad to defeat Laver/Andrés Gimeno 6–4 9–7 7–5. He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1984.
At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Santana won the Gold medal in Singles, though tennis was only a demonstration sport at that time. It became a medal sport in 1988 (after another demonstration event in 1984).
He later was captain of the Spanish Davis cup Team twice, once in the '80s and again for four and a half years in the mid-'90s, until he was dismissed in 1999. Currently, he is the organizer of the Madrid Masters.
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Wikipedia