Spanish Pride Paquito Navarro Conquers World Padel
Francisco Navarro Compán, aka Paquito Navarro, is the most dynamic, famous, and well-known Spanish padel player of our day. He is on his way to becoming his country’s most accomplished and recognized athlete. Let’s get to know this living legend!
He rose to challenge the supremacy of Argentine padel players at a period when they dominated padel. He is now regarded as a representative of contemporary Spanish padel.
Style
Paquito Navarro is a padel player who is renowned for his aggression. He usually plays on the court’s left side. Navarro is a complete attacker, despite the fact that he is not a strong smash hitter. His off-wall forehand, dubbed “the knife,” is one of his most feared moves, which he employs to generate straight wins, pass his opponents, and force neutral volleys. His volleys are among the finest on tour, as is his overall inventiveness.
Paquito’s deadly “knife.”
Paquito stands sideways to the approaching off-the-wall ball to create his “knife,” or “cuchilla,” in Spanish. By raising his arm – including his elbow – and placing his racket behind his head.
He aggressively accelerates his arm and shifts his weight to the front. He relaxes his arm and wrist in particular.
This relaxation enables him to efficiently accelerate his muscles, resulting in a movement that resembles a “whiplash.” His follow-through is extensive and impressive. He ends with the racket “around his neck,” often losing control of it.
Check out this video to see his best skills on court:
He’s not only a star on the court but he’s also a star on screen!
Paquito Navarro is a well-known figure on social media. He has been documenting his padel experiences on YouTube from the beginning of his career. Thousands of people follow his accessible and communicative attitude on the internet. This was groundbreaking when he first started his career.
Today, he has his own YouTube channel, DaleCandela TV, where he posts footage of himself playing professional padel. He appears as a guest on a second channel, PadelTrotters, and does bizarre antics. In one of his most famous films, he uses a frying pan to take a ball off the court.
How the living legend came to be
He was born on February 10th, 1989, in Valencia and began playing padel at five. Paquito’s debut competition was when he was just nine years old, and he quickly drew national notice.
He reached the finals of the global youth padel championships for his age group at ten, fourteen, and sixteen but lost each time. Later, with Tito Allemandi as his coach, Paquito finally broke the “curse” and won the young world title.
Paquito’s professional journey
He became a professional in 2009. With Jordi Muoz, he joined the Padel Pro Tour and won the under-23 Spanish Championship. He was runner-up in the Absolute Spanish Championship in 2010 alongside veteran Pitu Lozada. With Tito Allemandi, he made his professional debut, achieving two finals on the professional padel circuit and competing in the Masters Final.
However, not everything in his journey was smooth sailing
He appeared to lose concentration in 2013 and 2014, switching partners regularly. The 2015 Master Finals pitted Maxi Grabiel against the great Fernando Belasteguin and Juan Martin Diaz, giving him his first significant prize like a pro player.
Navarro pushing limits
He, on the other hand, desired more. He began playing alongside Matias Diaz, a good golfer, shortly after. Together, they finished second in the World Padel Tour as the best team. As if that wasn’t enough, he also wanted to become the world’s number one, so he went in search of the brilliant Sanyo Gutierrez. Sanyo seemed to be the only squad capable of challenging Belasteguin’s inexhaustible rule. During the Master Final in 2017, he even had a mathematical chance to win the top spot. He squandered that historic opportunity by losing in the semi-final.
Throughout 2018, he swapped partners many times. Former No. 1 Juan Martin Diaz, Pablo Lima, and Juan Cruz Beluatti were spotted with him.
Paquito joined forces with youthful rising Juan Lebron Chincoa in 2019, with Pablo Lima playing back with recovered Fernando Belasteguin. Since 2016, Paquito has regularly placed in the top five.
Today this living legend is still shaking the padel scene with his ferocious attacks on the court. Check out this video to see his latest performance:
