He won back-to-back singles titles at the Newport tournament in 2007 and 2008. At age 35, he was the oldest tennis player to win back-to-back championships at an ATP singles event. Santoro won the 2003 and 2004 Australian Open doubles titles, partnering with Michael Llodra, a French compatriot. Santoro is known for his abilities with trick shots. Over the years, this made him a crowd favorite. He was nicknamed by Pete Sampras as "The Magician." Throughout his career, Santoro used racquets that were all the same weight. Thus he has a two-handed hold for both forehands and backhands. He said that he couldn't hold the racquet in one hand when he was six years old and started playing. As a singles player, the 2006 Australian Open was Santoro's only Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance. He played in the tournament in 2008, when he broke Andre Agassi's record for career Grand Slam appearances with 62. He retired at the end of the 2009 season in the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
