Navarro and Di Nenno, magic returns at the Foro Italico: “Back together to be on fire again”

With Freed from Desire already playing, there’s no need to choose a soundtrack. The reunion of Paquito Navarro and Martin Di Nenno is by far the most romantic story of the 2026 BNL Italy Major Premier Padel, and to understand why, you need to travel back in time to the first edition of the tour at the Foro Italico. Back to Paquito and Martin losing the final to Juan Lebron and Ale Galan in a packed Grand Stand Arena, with Paquito celebrated despite the defeat to the tune of Gala’s 1990s hit, transformed into “Paquito is on fire”, a chant that has followed Navarro around the world ever since, not only in Italy. “I’m not lying when I say that Rome holds the best memory of my career, regardless of the result”, Paquito said during media day at the Foro Italico. “The atmosphere here is something fantastic, and I can feel it on court”.

And since Paquito has not been particularly on fire over the last few months, and even years, partly because of the rise of other partnerships, here comes the dramatic twist: the reunion of a pair that, in its own way, made history in the sport by winning the first Premier Padel tournament ever held, in Doha in 2022. “A couple of times we came close to agreeing to play together again, the door had always remained half open”, Navarro continues. “But both of us wanted to give it another try, and here we are, giving ourselves this gift. The objectives are different, of course. It would be enough to achieve half of what we achieved in 2022, but both Martin and I know that the Rome crowd will be the third man of the team”.

Freed from Desire, yes, but also Paquito’s famous racket guitar. Whenever he wants to ignite the crowd, he turns his racket into a musical instrument. “We want to feel that fire inside again”, explain the Spaniard and the Argentine. “The expectations regarding results are different now, and frustration has sometimes been felt on court, but playing together again can help us rediscover the joy of doing this job”.

Navarro alongside Fran Guerrero, Di Nenno alongside Momo Gonzalez: two partnerships that did not produce the desired results. Better to start again from emotions, also for Martin. “I’m a bit older now, and so is Paquito. We got back together to be competitive against the top pairs in the world, to play and to enjoy ourselves. The level of padel has risen enormously and even the first rounds are already very difficult, but we have a huge desire to fight and to show our level, both individually and as a pair”.