Manolo Santana Manuel Santana Martínez, also known as Manolo Santana, was a Spanish tennis player know all about him in this article as like his Family, Net Worth, Parents, Wife, Children and Biography.
Manolo Santana Biography
| Name | Manuel Santana |
| Birthdate | 10 May 1938 |
| Died | 11 December 2021 |
| Place of Birth | Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish tennis player |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Spouse/Partner | Claudia Inés Rodríguez (m. 2013) |
| Children | Alba Santana Ximénez de Cisneros, Beatriz Santana, Manuel Santana |
| Parents | Mercedes Martínez, Braulio Santana |
| Profession | Spanish tennis player |
| Education | Not Known |
| Net Worth | $1 Million – $5 Million |
Manuel Santana Martínezalso known as Manolo Santana, was a Spanish tennis player.In 1965, he was ranked as amateur world #1 by Ned Potter. While in 1966 by Lance Tingay.He started his career as a ball boy and learned about the game. He started to play tennis in 1956 and won his first French Championship in 1961.
Early Life and Family
Manolo Santana is a Spanish tennis player who is known for being the number one Amateur ranked in the World Rankins.Born in Madrid, Spain, on May 10, 1938, Manolo made records by winning the Grand Slam Championships four times.
Manolo Santana Wife
Santana was married to María Fernanda González-Dopeso; they had four children.Their marriage ended in 1980. He later married reporter Mila Ximénez, with whom he had a daughter, Alba. The divorce was unamicable. He was also married and then divorced from Otti Glanzelius.
He married with Claudia Rodriguez in 2013.The couple married in a private ceremony at the home of friends in Nueva Andalucia.The couple, however, later divorced.
Manolo Santana Net Worth
Manuel Santana Martínezalso known as Manolo Santana, was a Spanish tennis player has an estimated Net Worth around $1 Million – $5 Million
Professional Career
Santana began his career as a ball boy in Madrid, where he “picked up” the game. Santana became a national hero after leading Spain to a surprise Davis Cup victory over the United States in 1965. Santana won the gold medal in singles at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, but tennis was simply a demonstration sport at the time. In 1988, it was designated as a medal sport.
Later in his career, he served as captain of the Spanish Davis Cup team twice, once in the 1980s and again for four and a half years in the mid-1990s until his dismissal in 1999. He was the organiser of the Madrid Masters till 2019. He is the owner of the Manolo Santana Racquets Club in Marbella and the Manolo Santana Sport Center in Madrid.
Santana and Lleyton Hewitt are the only Wimbledon men’s singles champions to lose in the first round in the following year; Hewitt’s loss was during the Open era, while Santana’s was before the Open era.
He appeared at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships in London in the Royal Box to watch the men’s final which was between his fellow countryman Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic .In 2020, Santana was awarded the ITF Philippe Chatrier Award for his contribution to tennis both on and off the court.
Death and Tributes
He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1984.”It’s difficult for a genius to be rewarded in tennis, and Manolo was one of those few who could,” Gene Scott said at the induction ceremony where he spoke on Santana’s behalf. “He literally invented one of the strokes that we now see in profusion — the backhand topspin lob.”Rafael Nadal joined in the flood of condolences on social media, writing in Spanish that “we will all miss you Manolo.”
“You will always be one of a kind and special,” Nadal wrote. “As I have said many times in the past: a thousand thanks for what you did for our country and for opening the way for others. You were always my role model, a friend and someone who was close to all of us.”Spain’s king and prime minister echoed the sentiments of Nadal, calling Santana a “legend.”
“There are people who become legends and make a country great. Manolo Santana was and will always be one of them,” Spanish King Felipe VI wrote on Twitter.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “He won Roland Garros, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, a total of 72 tournaments and an Olympic gold to make him a tennis legend and one of the best athletes our country has seen.”
