Francisco Jesús Navarro Compán (born 10 February 1989 in Sevilla, Spain), known as Paquito Navarro, is a professional Spanish padel which currently occupies the 11th position in the Premier Padel ranking. He plays on the backhand side alongside Fran Guerrero.
Paquito became world number 1 in 2019 alongside Juan Lebrón, becoming the first Spanish pair to reach the top spot in the world of padel.
Career Early career Paquito Navarro started playing padel at the age of 5. At 9, he began competing in his first tournaments, attracting the attention of everyone who watched his game. At 10, he became the world runner-up in his age group alongside Jaime Bergareche. At 14, he played in another world championship for players his age, losing again in the final.
He competed in the next World Championship in the junior category at age 16, reaching the final again but losing once more. After this, he began training with Adrián Allemandi until he was 20 and finally broke his curse with finals by winning the Junior World Championship, which would be Paquito's last.
First years in World Padel Tour In 2009 he joined the Padel Pro Tour, Padel's premier professional circuit, alongside Jordi Muñoz and that same year he became Spanish under-23 champion. In 2010 he started the circuit alongside Pablo Cardozo and finished alongside Pitu Losada.
In 2012, he established himself on the professional circuit alongside Adrián Allemandi, reaching two finals and playing in the Master Final. In 2013, he returned to playing with Jordi Muñoz, and in 2014 he again partnered with Adrián Allemandi and also played with Maxi Grabiel, with whom he won the Valencia Master by defeating the number one ranked pair, Fernando Belasteguín and Juan Martín Díaz, in the final.
Due to his achievements Paquito became the only Spanish player to have been crowned Spanish Champion in every category, from the youngest age groups to the senior level.
Breakthrough year
In 2015, Paquito had breakthrough year playing alongside Matías Díaz, with whom he finished as the second-best ranked pair on the circuit. They started the year knocking out the new number one ranked pair, Fernando Belasteguín and Pablo Lima, in the semi-finals on their route to win the Barcelona Master. They reached the next two tournaments finals, but lost both of them against Belasteguín and his temporary partner Willy Lahoz.
After a semi-final loss in Argentina they reached the Valladolid Open finals, but lost to Belasteguín & Lima in three sets. After three more semi-finals exits, Navarro and Díaz reached the finals of the Montecarlo Master and the Madrid Open but we're unable to win both.
In the last five tournaments of the regular season Matí and Paquito reached four semi-finals, but could not progress to any final, finishing the year with a quarter-finals loss in the Masters Final. Diaz and Paquito finished the season as the second ranked pair, behind Belasteguín and Lima.
Partnership with Sanyo Gutiérrez 2016
However, in the 2016 season, Paquito decided to change partners and team up with Sanyo Gutiérrez, with the goal of challenging for the top ranking spot. They started their new adventure reaching the semifinals of the first tournament of the season.
In their second tournament, the Valencia Master, they bested the number 1 ranked pair, Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima, in the semifinals, and in the final they defeated the Maxi Sánchez & Matías Díaz, thus winning their first tournament of the season. After a semi-final exit in the Barcelona Master, Paquito and Sanyo reached their second final of the season in the Las Rozas Open, but could not defeat the number one ranked pair.
In their next four tournaments the Spanish-Argentinian pair would reach three more finals, all of them against Belasteguín & Lima, losing the first two and achieving their second title of the season in the La Nucía Open, after the number 1 pair could not compete in the final, due to an injury of Fernando Belasteguín. In the seven last tournaments of the regular seasons they would reach five more finals, losing four of them to Belasteguín and Lima and ending the ranking race in second.
Paquito and Sanyo finsished the season winning the Masters Final, after defeating Juani Mieres & Miguel Lamperti in the finals, by 6–3 and 6–4.
Also in 2016, he competed in the Padel World Championship with the Spanish national team, finishing as runners-up after losing the final 2–1 to Argentina. Paquito played his match with Juan Martín Díaz against the Argentinians Fernando Belasteguín and Sanyo Gutiérrez, losing the match 6–4, 3–6, 7–5, thus tying the tie with Argentina at one point apiece.
2017
In 2017, he continued his partnership with Sanyo Gutiérrez. They began the season winning the Santander Open and the Miami Master, beating the number one rankeds Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima in both finals. Showing that Paquito and Sanyo Gutiérrez could pose a threath to the number 1s, in a final that would be repeated many times during the season.
Belasteguín & Lima would settle the score avenging their loss in rematches on the next two tournaments, winning the A Coruña Open and the Barcelona Master. In the fifth tournament of the season, the Valladolid Open, Sanyo and Paquito took the victory after the withdrawal before the final of the number 1 due to an injury of Fernando Belasteguín.
Neither team would reach the finals of the next two tournament, maintaining the ranking race close. They would meet again in the eighth tournament of the season, the Alicante Open, being defeated in the finals against Belasteguín & Lima in three sets. They would avenge their loss in the Seville Open, winning the title in Paquito's hometwon, and would repeat the result in Andorra, while in the meantime losing the Portugal Master to their rivals.
After a loss in the Granada Open, with three tournaments remaining, and both teams tied with ten finals contested and five titles each, the final tournaments would be crucial to the ranking race.
In the first of the remaining tournaments, held in Zaragoza, they did not reach the final, after losing in the semifinals. In the Buenos Aires Master, they reached another final, where they lost to Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima, losing ground in the No. 1 Ranking race. At the Bilbao Open they lost in the semifinals against Maxi Sánchez and Matías Díaz ending their hopes of finishing the year as the number one pair. They finished the season with a quarter-finals exit in the Masters Final.
2018
In 2018, Paquito and Sanyo decided to split, with Juan Martín Díaz becoming Paquito's new partner. In the first tournament of the season, the Catalunya Master, they were only able to reach the quarterfinals.
Their first final came in the third tournament of the season, the Zaragoza Open, where they were unable to beat Maxi Sánchez & Sanyo Gutiérrez, something that would be repetad in Jaén. Three tournaments later they reached another final, in Bastad (Sweden), where they lost against Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima.
During the semifinals of the eleventh tournament of the circuit, the Portugal Master, and with the score at 5–5 in the second set, Paquito crashed into a glass panel on the court and it broke, causing injuries that led to his hospitalization. Juani Mieres & Miguel Lamperti, their opponents in the semifinals thus advanced to the tournament final. Fortunately, after receiving stitches in his knees and elbows, he was discharged from the hospital the following morning.
Following his absence from the Granada Open, and after the announcement by Juan Martín Díaz that he was going to play with in Granada with Juan Lebrón, Paquito announced that his new partner until the end of the season would be Pablo Lima, since his partner, Fernando Belasteguín, was still injured and unable to play in the last tournaments of the season.
In their first tournament together they reached the final of the Bilbao Open, where they defeated Miguel Lamperti & Juani Mieres in two sets, achieving their first title as a pair. Due to already being registered to play with Juan Martín Díaz in the Argentina Master, they reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Maxi Sánchez & Sanyo Gutiérrez.
He played again with Lima at the Murcia Open, where they managed to reach the final, but were defeated by the newly crowned world number 1s, Maxi Sánchez & Sanyo Gutiérrez. He finsished the season playing the Master Final with Juan Cruz Belluati, since Fernando Belasteguín had fully recovered from his injury.
Partnership with Juan Lebrón 2019
For the 2019 season, Juan Lebrón became Paquito Navarro's new partner. In their first tournament of the season, the Marbella Master, they reached the final, where they fell to the number 1s, Maxi Sánchez & Sanyo Gutiérrez. They would reach the final of the next tournament, but would once again lose to Maxi & Sanyo.
Their first success came at the Alicante Open, where they defeated Paquito's long time rivals Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima to win their first tournament together. They would lose again to Maxi & Sanyo at the Vigo Open, but would finally beat them to win their second title at the Jaén Open.
Despite a quarter-final loss in Buenos Aires, Lebrón and Paquito would win the Valladolid Master and the Bastad Open, reaching the halfway of the season with seven finals and four titles, and establishing themselves as a threat to Maxi and Sanyo number one rank.
They could not repeat their results in the next five tournaments, but kept close in the ranking race due to their rivals inconsistent results. On the fourtheen Córdoba Open of the season they would reach the finals, but weren't able to win it. They would also reach and win the finals of the São Paulo Open, where after beating Agustín Tapia & Fernando Belasteguín in the semi-finals Lebrón reached the number one ranking spot, becoming along with Paquito the first Spanish pair to reach the top of the rankings.
Lebrón and Paquito would secure the number 1 ranking at the end of the season after reaching the finals of the Mexico Open, the penultimate tournament of the season. In the final they lost against Maxi Sánchez & Sanyo Gutiérrez in two sets. They would conclude the season with a semi-final exit in the Masters Final.
Return with Pablo Lima 2020
Despite reaching the top of the rankings together, Lebrón and Paquito opted to part ways, with Lima becoming Paquito Navarro's new partner. In the first and only tournament of the 2020 before the COVID-19 break, the Marbella Master, Lima and Paquito defeated Alejandro Galán & Juan Lebrón in the final.
Three months after the shutdown, they returned to competition reaching the final of the Estrella Damm Open, in a rematch with Galán & Lebrón, which they lost in two sets. In the next six tournaments, the Spanish-Brazilian pair would reach four semi-finals but were unable to progress in any of them. Their last final together tenth tournament of the season, where do to a Lima injury they had to forfeit the last match.
The injury in Las Rozas also forced Lima to miss the Master Finals, making Paquito play with Javi Rico where they lost in the quarter-finals.
Partnership with Martín Di Nenno 2021
For the 2021 season, Martín Di Nenno became his new partner. Together they had a difficult start of season reaching only two out of nine tournaments finals, in Vigo and Málaga Open's, losing both of them.