Spain still regrets farewell to Manolo Santana

Residents of the city of Marbella in Marbella (Málaga), on Sunday, with applause, chants and shouts “Marbella loves you” rejected the coffin of tennis player Manolo Santana, who died at the age of 83 in the city of the Costa del Sol. He chose to live.

Among the flowers and tears of anonymous citizens, the amazing wreaths from public institutions and sports companies and famous names in culture and sports, such as Rafa Nadal, the tennis player’s remains were left in the Caja Magica direction in Madrid to receive “in his own hint” one last farewell.

Santana, the legend of Spanish tennis, who has four Grand Slam titles among his main advantages in a long history (two Roland Garros, the US Open and Wimbledon) and who in his later years served as honorary president of the Mutua Madrid Open, sensitive health in recent times, Where her public appearance was less and less.

Manolo Santana, born in Madrid on May 10, 1938, was the real catalyst for tennis in Spain after winning his first Roland Garros tournament in 1961 amid the dominance of US and Australian players.

The racquet promoter began to emerge when he was twenty years old, when he won the Spanish Championship. Later, having settled among the world’s top ten in the 1960s, he became known as the number one in the world.

Santana popularized a sport initially classified as elite and established it in Spain, where he set up a school. He normalized it. Successful generations grew up after him and followed his path. Men such as Manolo Orientes, Andrés Gimeno, Joan Gisbert and Jose Higueras expanded the track initially opened by Santana which ended up becoming one of the most successful tracks in the history of Spanish sport. in what it is today.