PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic – Mariano Navone deserves a feast of traditional Dominican food after eating “chicken and rice every day” during what became one of the most successful weeks of his career.
“That’s what we athletes eat! Hopefully today we can treat ourselves a bit,” said the champion of the second edition of the Copa Cap Cana.
His run at the República Dominicana Open came as a surprise. The Argentine had never won more than two consecutive matches on hard courts, and on the Racquet Village in Cap Cana he lifted the trophy after defeating Italy’s Mattia Bellucci 7-5, 6-4 in the final. His partnership with Argentine coach Alberto Mancini, a former world No. 8, is already producing immediate results.
The 175 points earned from winning the most important tournament in the Caribbean will take him back into the top 60 starting tomorrow: “It feels good to be back at No. 60… last year I spent most of my time looking towards No. 100. I hadn’t had a surge like this in several months.”
Navone reached the top 30 in 2024 largely thanks to his clay-court results. Breaking through that ceiling is one of his goals, and his new personal bests on faster surfaces are giving him valuable confidence.
“Just coming to hard-court tournaments feeling like a contender, or feeling that I can win matches, is really good,” he told CLAY.
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“I’ve beaten players who are very strong on this surface. Looking ahead, I’ll have more hard-court matches where I’ll gradually gain the confidence to win, and that’s the most important thing,” added the former world No. 29.
Beyond the challenge posed by the surface, Navone also handled the Punta Cana heat during a final that was interrupted due to high temperatures.
After securing a decisive break at 5-all in the first set, play was suspended for nearly an hour because of extreme heat: the final had started at 11 a.m.
Drama in Cap Cana.
– Bellucci gets his 2nd time violation.
– Complains to the chair umpire about a phone ringing in the stands.
– Play is stopped. The supervisor is called. His protest is dismissed.
– He saves two set points, but Navone eventually breaks and takes the lead 6-5.… pic.twitter.com/ZH5YfY8EbA— Clay (@_claymagazine) March 15, 2026
It did not end up being an issue for Navone, who returned to the court and closed out the opening set without complications. In the second set he went up by two breaks while playing at a high level; Bellucci threatened a comeback, but the Argentine ultimately sealed the match in his favour.
“The heat wasn’t a problem for me this week. I think coming from playing the Rio Open a couple of weeks ago, where it was incredibly hot and you could barely stay on court, really helped. The heat index on court was high, but we were playing a final and had to stay focused on that,” said the nine-time Challenger Tour champion.
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