Manuel Santana
Manuel " Manolo " Martínez Santana ( born May 10, 1938 in Madrid ) is a former Spanish tennis player. He was especially successful in the 1960s and was regarded in 1966 as the world's best tennis players.
Life
Santana learned to play tennis as a ball boy in the Velasquez - tennis club in Madrid know. As a clay court specialist, he won in 1961 and 1964, the French Championships. The Australian tennis legend Rod Laver therefore referred to him as "Wizard on sand ". He could play the most incredible angle and bring his topspin lobs and drop shots every enemy to despair.
In 1965, Santana, the Spanish team with a surprising 4-1 win over the USA in the final of the Davis Cup, for which he was awarded by dictator Franco Isabella with the Order. Through a consistent improvement in his volleys he succeeded in the same year by winning the U.S. Championships at Forest Hills his first success on grass. In 1966 he crowned this by winning the first Spaniard during the Wimbledon Championships. The following year, his title defense at Wimbledon was, however, set a very early end, when he retired as topgesetzter players already in the first round against the Americans Charlie Pasarell - a negative record, the Lleyton Hewitt befell again only in 2003.
In 1968 he won the tennis competition, which as a demonstration sport for the first time since 1924 that time was again part of the Olympic program at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. After the start of the Open Era to Santana drew largely from the tournament back operation; last he won in 1970 in Barcelona. After a brief comeback in the Davis Cup in 1973, he moved into coaching positions and worked for the team from New York in the North American World Team Tennis league. Later he trained, among others, Manuel Orantes and was captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team.
In 1984 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Today he is co-organizer of the Madrid Masters; The center court of Caja Mágica is named after him.
Title
Singles
Doubles
Sources and links
- Bud Collins: History of tennis. 2nd edition. New Chapter Press, New York 2010, pp. 639f. ISBN 978-0-942257-70-0.
- Manuel Santana in Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely available )
- Commons: Manuel Santana - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
- ATP profile of Manuel Santana ( English)
- ITF profile for Manuel Santana ( English)
- Davis Cup stats by Manuel Santana ( English)
- Manuel Santana in the " International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English, with picture)