Navone's 20-year dream comes to life

Challenger

Navone's 20-year dream comes to life

The Argentine reflects on his maiden ATP Tour title, the road to get there and more

Kathryn Riley/ATP Challenger

Mariano Navone is competing this week at the Sardegna Open, an ATP Challenger 175 event in Cagliari, Italy. By Grant Thompson

When Mariano Navone clinched his first ATP Tour title this month in Bucharest, his reaction told the story. The 25-year-old raised his arms in the air and flashed his infectious smile, a grin that suggested he was almost laughing in disbelief. Perhaps there was also relief — Navone had fallen short in his previous two tour-level finals, including in Bucharest in 2024.

A reflective Navone post match could not help but think of his younger self, who had spent two decades dreaming of that milestone moment. “When I was a kid, I dreamed of winning these tournaments on the big stages,” the Argentine said.

Navone’s dream began as soon as he could hold a racquet. As the Argentine puts it, “The dream was from always”. Navone started playing tennis as a toddler at his hometown club, Club Atlético 9 de Julio, where he began imagining himself on the sport’s biggest stages.

“I was watching Nalbandian, Del Potro in the major tournaments and I said, ‘I want to be him’,” Navone told the ATP Challenger media team at this week’s Sardegna Open. “From that time, I always watched Argentinian players in the big tournaments and I dreamed of that when I was a kid.”

Turning that childhood vision into reality was never going to be simple.

“It’s a very long process,” Navone said. “When you are growing up in the sport, you see that it’s not an easy job. Now I’m 25, and I dreamed of it from five or six years old, so 20 years later!”

Navone’s triumph at the ATP 250 secured his return to the Top 50 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time in 13 months.

Now, after a second-round loss to Alexander Zverev at the Mutua Madrid Open, Navone is the top seed at the ATP Challenger 175 event in Cagliari. Navone won the event in 2024, the same season in which he made history at Roland Garros, becoming the first player in the Open Era to be seeded in his first major main draw.

Navone triumphs at the Cagliari Challenger in 2024. Credit: Mike Lawrence/ATP Challenger

Since then, Navone has established himself on the ATP Tour. He ascended to a career-high No. 29 in June 2024. He has made occasional appearances on the ATP Challenger circuit, and when he does, he is a consistent contender, something he underlined last month in Cap Cana. Navone claimed the title in Cap Cana, one of six Challenger 175 events. It marked Navone’s biggest career title at that point and his first hard-court title at any level.

“I was born on clay courts. I never played on hard courts until 2021, 2022,” Navone said. “It was a really, really good tournament. I was super excited in the trophy ceremony.”

Three weeks later, Navone was crowned champion in Bucharest, a city he has long travelled to compete in tournaments.

“In 2020 and 2021, I played many times in Romania. It was a long trip, but it was cheaper than other parts of Europe,” Navone said. “Bucharest has a very special place in my heart because I [won my first ATP Tour title there], played a final one year and I played Futures there. I enjoy the people of Romania because they are similar to the Latin people.”

A nine-time Challenger champion, Navone will look to add to that collection this week in Cagliari. In 2024, he beat home favourite Lorenzo Musetti in the final. Navone this week will start against another Italian superstar in Matteo Berrettini.

“It will be a really, really challenging match,” said Navone, who has twice lost to Berrettini at ATP Tour level. “Matteo is very dangerous with the serve and the forehand.”

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