Meet Challenger Star Mariano Navone, ‘La Navoneta’

If you were to watch Mariano Navone, you would likely hear his fellow Argentines chanting, ‘La Navoneta!’ The 22-year-old, who has won two consecutive ATP Challenger Tour titles, received this nickname when he first came onto the scene two years ago.

Then-ranked No. 582 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Navone was given a wild card at the Buenos Aires Challenger in October 2021. He earned his maiden ATP Challenger Tour victory that week and local fans began to call him ‘La Navoneta’. The nickname has stuck.

“In Argentina, the national football team’s manager is Lionel Scaloni. ‘La Scaloneta’ is the nickname of the team that all of the people in Argentina use,” Navone told ATPTour.com. “So ‘La Navoneta’ is like the same, but with less people because I’m not very famous!

“I enjoy it because the people represent me with that name. The people don’t say, ‘Mariano’, they say ‘La Navoneta!’”

Navone instantly found success at the Challenger level, competing in three finals in his first six tournaments. But he initially struggled to go one step further to stand in the winners’ circle. The 22-year-old has since flipped the script. Navone is riding a 10-match winning streak with triumphs at the Poznan and Santa Fe Challengers.

“It’s unbelievable, two titles in a row. In Poznan, I won my first Top-100 match [against Federico Coria] and my first title. That week was so special,” Navone said. “After I played in Poznan, I went to Wimbledon and there I played bad, it was difficult to play on grass. Then I was happy to win at home [in Santa Fe], it was my first time to win at home. It’s unbelievable, I won the final with my family in the box, and my coach and physio. I played all the matches and didn’t lose a set.

“When I won in Poznan, the first thing I had in my brain was, ‘Relax!’. Now, I’m a champion. I relaxed and then I enjoyed it because of all my work over the years. When I lost the three finals, I lost because I was very nervous. I was very nervous in this final too but I could control it. When I lost the final last year in Villa Maria, I was frustrated because I played three Challenger finals and two Futures finals and I never won. It was difficult in my head.”

Navone, who is at a career-high World No. 164 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, stated that the ATP Challenger Tour has been crucial in helping him develop his young career.

“Challengers have changed my life. I made my first final in 2022 in Corrientes. In that moment, I was around 520 in the rankings. The level of Challengers has given me everything,” Navone said. “The matches have a lot of intensity. The competition, the players are so special. They’ve developed my game and mentally. It’s very difficult to win.”

Boasting a 20-13 season record at the Challenger level, the Argentine will next be in action at the Internazionali di Tennis Verona in Italy, where play runs from 24-30 July.