Santana was born in Madrid, and began his career as a ball boy and "picked up" the game. In 1965, Santana led Spain to unexpected victory over the US in the Davis Cup, and he became a national hero. Despite his previous Grand Slam successes in the French Championships (1961, 1964) and the U.S. Championships (1965), Santana's win at the 1966 Wimbledon lawn tennis championships was a surprise, where he defeated the sixth seed Dennis Ralston 6–4, 11–9, 6–4. His last big tournament win was in 1970 by winning Barcelona where he defeated Rod Laver 6–4, 6–3, 6–4. He also captured the doubles title in Barcelona that year when he teamed with Lew Hoad to defeat Laver/Andrés Gimeno 6–4 9–7 7–5. He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1984.