Manolo Santana, Favorite Son of Madrid

The former Madrid tennis player Manolo Santana, winner of four ‘Grand Slam’ titles and who died on December 11, 2021, was posthumously named Madrid’s Favorite Son on Tuesday with the favorable vote of all municipal groups.

Born in Madrid in 1938, Santana began his love affair with tennis as a ball boy at the Velázquez Tennis Club in the Spanish capital., where he caught the attention of his leaders and began to train as a professional tennis player. Since his victories in the Spanish Championship, the man from Madrid began to aim higher and succeed on the international circuit.

With Australians and Americans dominating world tennis, Santana was able to mentor them in the sixties. His first ‘big one’ fell on the Parisian clay of Roland Garros in 1961 against the Italian Nicola Pietrangeli, before re-engraving his name in the ‘Musketeers’ Cup’ also in 1964 and against the same rival.

Just one year later, in 1965, he became the first European to lift the US Open since Henri Cochet in 1928, all after beating South African Cliff Drysdale in the final.

His ‘Grand Slam’ record was completed with the conquest of Wimbledon in 1966 against the American Dennis Ralston, ending twelve years of European drought on London grass.

Although he could never win the Davis Cup title, Santana did win the gold medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, where tennis participated as an exhibition sport and where he also joined a silver in doubles.

After his retirement in 1980, The man from Madrid continued to be linked to tennis as a coach, being captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team in two stages -1980-85 and 1995-99-, and as a promoter.

In fact, at the hands of Ion Tiriac, he was fundamental in getting Madrid to host a fundamental event on the ATP and WTA circuit, the Mutua Madrid Open, which since 2002 has been organizing for 19 years. Santana himself was director of the tournament since 2002 and is currently honorary president, and the center court of the Caja Mágica is named after him.