CAP CANA/STARNBERG, March 15, 2026
Argentina’s Mariano Navone captured the first hard-court title of his career on Sunday, winning the second edition of the Republica Dominicana Open – Copa Cap Cana. The 25-year-old defeated Italy’s Mattia Bellucci 7-5, 6-4 in the singles final to lift the biggest trophy of his career.
Navone had previously claimed all eight of his ATP Challenger Tour titles on clay, making his triumph in the Caribbean a significant milestone. Playing under sunny and hot conditions with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic, the South American kept his composure despite a heat break during the second set.
The world No. 79 and sixth seed of the ATP Challenger 175 event withstood four aces from Bellucci and broke the Italian’s serve three times. Navone won 53 per cent of the total points played and sealed the victory after two hours and five minutes.
It takes a team @marianonavone1 captures his 9th Challenger title 7-5, 6-4 over Bellucci #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/eA3AhOgf0X
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) March 15, 2026
Navone arrived in the Dominican Republic after an early exit at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he lost in the first round to US-American Marcos Giron. In Cap Cana, however, he produced an impressive run through the draw, defeating local wild card Nick Hardt, Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki, second-seeded Frenchman Valentin Royer and Belgian youngster Alexander Blockx on his way to the title.
With the victory, Navone collected $48,000 in prize money and 175 ATP Ranking points. His success also comes shortly after beginning a new partnership with coach Alberto Mancini, the former mentor of Guillermo Coria and Fabio Fognini and a longtime captain of Argentina’s Argentina Davis Cup Team.
