From Manolo Santana to Rafa Nadal
Manolo Santana will always be remembered as one of the greats of Spanish tennis history. He will, however, also be fondly recalled for coining one of the most memorable phrases in the annals of sports commentary. Over half a decade ago, he was quoted as joking (or half-joking), “Grass is just for cows”, in reference to Wimbledon and his belief that tennis should be played on artificial surfaces, not lawn tennis courts.
Quite an ironic surprise, therefore, when he won the Wimbledon title in 1966. Previously he had been victorious on the clay at Roland Garros in the 1961 and 1964 French Opens, and he also won the 1965 US Open when it was still played on grass, as well as the 1965 Davis Cup (Spain unexpectedly beat the United States) and the gold medal in singles when tennis was a demonstration sport at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
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Santana and Nadal at Madrid Mutua[/caption]
A one-time ball-boy born from Madrid who “picked up” the game, he is now based in Marbella, where he has an eponymous racquets club on the road to Istán. The municipality is planning a series of 50th anniversary events during May and into June to commemorate and honour his achievement as the first Spaniard to win the Wimbledon title, and his 30-year association with Marbella. The former world number one arrived initially to run the Puente Roman tennis club, before handing over the job to Bjorn Borg (a five-time Wimbledon winner from 1976 to 1980).
In the meantime, earlier this month, Santana was in the Spanish capital as tournament director of the Madrid Mutua Open, where he also celebrated his 78th birthday (10 May) and received warm wishes (and a cake) from leading players including Rafa Nadal.
In 2008 Nadal became only the second Spanish male player after Santana to win Wimbledon (and the first in what is known as the “open era” – before 1968, professionals were not allowed to compete in the Grand Slams), repeating his triumph in 2010. Conchita Martínez was the first and to date only Spanish woman to win the Wimbledon singles title, in 1994.
The French Open, on the other, has proved much more fruitful hunting grounds for Spanish players. Starting next weekend (22 May), the second of this year’s major championships (after the Australian Open in January – and followed by Wimbledon in June-July and the US Open in August-September) has been won since 1968 by Andrés Gimeno (1972), Sergi Bruguera (1993 and 1994), Carlos Moyá (1998), Albert Costa (2002) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003).
Then Nadal raised the bar. He won the title for the first time in 2005, just turned 19 (during his semi-final match against top seed Roger Federer), reeled off four more consecutive titles before losing in the fourth round in 2009, then dominated the championship again from 2010 to 2014. Last year, he fell to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals, the latter eventually losing to Stan Wawrinka in the final. Apart from Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (1989, 1994 and 1998), the French Open title has eluded Nadal’s other female compatriots.
Returning to Marbella… not far from the Manolo Santana Racquets Club, this elegant apartment is located in a much sought-after complex on the Golden Mile – and priced at just €930,000.
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