Nargiso Tennis Academy

A Lake Como base with tour DNA

Nargiso Tennis Academy began with a simple idea from former ATP pro Diego Nargiso. After years on tour and time spent coaching, managing, and commentating, he wanted to build a training home that blended elite standards with day to day practicality. In 2018 that idea took shape in Capiago Intimiano, just outside Como. The location created a tidy training village where courts, lodging, and meals sit a short walk from each other. Players can finish a session, grab lunch, and return for a second block without crossing a city. Parents can visit for the weekend and see everything in one place. The scale is intentional. Instead of a sprawling resort, this is a focused center that treats attention as a competitive edge.

In 2020 the academy formalized its current structure. Junior and professional programs moved under one umbrella with shared standards for planning, feedback, and tournament support. The guiding principle still comes from the founder’s experience. Nargiso’s playing identity relied on clear patterns, aggressive instincts, and doubles skills that sharpened his net game. Those elements now live inside weekly and annual plans that are small enough for coaches to notice the details that change results: ball height on crosscourt defense, the weight transfer on a body serve, the timing of a down the line change.

Why the setting matters

Capiago Intimiano sits on the gentle hills above Lake Como. The air is fresh, the streets are quiet, and the surrounding clubs create a dense tennis ecosystem. The climate helps with year round training. Spring and fall are temperate and allow long clay blocks. Summers are warm and humid, which is a useful stressor for endurance and focus. Winters are manageable thanks to seasonal covers on courts that allow consistent scheduling when temperatures dip. For competition, the Como and Brianza area offers a steady calendar of regional events, and Milan’s airports are within reach for international trips.

Families appreciate the logistics. Lodging and the on site restaurant turn daily routines into simple loops: train, recover, study, rest. That rhythm is especially valuable during intensive blocks when players need predictable meals, quiet evenings, and early bedtimes. The village setting also promotes independence. Juniors can walk to practice, meet staff for video review, and return to their rooms without transfers or long commutes.

Facilities built for work, not spectacle

This is not a megacomplex, and that is the point. The center is optimized for training blocks and tournament preparation.

• Courts: Three total, with two traditional clay courts and one GreenSet hard court. Clay drives shape, height, and patient construction. GreenSet supports first strike patterns, return practice, and faster decision cycles. All courts can be covered in winter to maintain continuity.
• Strength and conditioning spaces: A functional area supports movement drills, mobility, footwork ladders, medicine ball work, and strength patterns tailored for tennis. Equipment choices favor transfer to the court rather than weight room theatrics.
• Recovery and support: On site stringing keeps racquets consistent across a training week. Access to physiotherapy, massage, and basic prehab routines reduces the risk of minor issues turning into missed days. Players receive guidance on sleep, nutrition, and hydration so that training volume actually lands.
• Boarding and meals: Simple, comfortable rooms are steps from the courts. The attached restaurant provides consistent meals with the kind of repetitive quality most juniors need: familiar carbohydrates, lean proteins, and vegetables prepared in ways players will actually eat. Travel time evaporates, which leaves more bandwidth for study and recovery.
• Video and biomechanics: The academy integrates basic video capture for technical checkpoints and movement analysis. Biomechanics feedback is used to clean inefficiencies and protect the body, especially around serving and change of direction.

The result is a compact footprint where players are rarely more than a minute from what they need next. That proximity raises accountability. When the gym is twenty seconds away, a warm up is never skipped, and when the restaurant is downstairs, lunch happens on time.

Coaching staff and philosophy

Diego Nargiso leads a staff that blends technical specialists with performance coaches and support professionals. The team includes on court coaches experienced with both junior development and tour travel, dedicated physical trainers, and specialists in biomechanics, nutrition, and mental training. The structure is small enough that senior coaches remain hands on.

The coaching philosophy starts with two foundations: the first five shots of a point and competence at the net. That means serve plus one, return plus one, and the patterns that stabilize these phases. Doubles skills reinforce this model. Players learn to close space, read cues, and finish cleanly, which later translates to singles opportunities. Sessions track toward match identity rather than generic drills. If a player should live in heavy crosscourt backhands or inside out forehands, the staff builds weeks around those patterns.

Another visible element is routine. Warm up and cool down are treated as non negotiable parts of the day. They exist outside the counted court block so quality never gets squeezed at the edges. Coaches keep private high performance projects intentionally scarce, typically one or two at a time, so attention is concentrated. That selective approach also allows tournament travel and even short consulting stints at a player’s home club when appropriate.

Programs for different stages and goals

The academy spans a full pathway.

• Kids and early development: The school arm introduces tennis to children from around age four with fun, clear progression. Avviamento builds coordination and simple technique. Perfezionamento adds volume and precision. A Pre Academy bridge introduces athletic work and prepares candidates for more intensive schedules.
• Junior Team: The intensive track runs weekly, monthly, and year round blocks. Typical weeks include daily tennis and athletic sessions across Monday to Friday, with arrival on Sunday and departure on Saturday for short stays. Year programs combine tennis, fitness, and tournament planning with boarding on site.
• Pro Team: A personalized, full day schedule for aspiring and current professionals. Programs are built around individual objectives: ranking targets, surface transitions, or post injury returns.
• Adult stages: Custom clinics and private or small group sessions are arranged on request, often during the shoulder seasons when court access is generous.

Families can calibrate commitment. Some arrive for two weeks to rebuild a serve. Others spend a semester transitioning from national to international events. Year round athletes follow a personalized cycle with targeted tournament blocks and recovery windows.

Training and player development approach

The training model is practical and specific.

• Technical: Clay work emphasizes height, spin, and depth control. Players learn to vary shape to defend and to open space for offense. On GreenSet, the emphasis shifts to serve variety, return clarity, and the first aggressive ball. Biomechanics feedback supports efficient movement and clean kinetic chains, especially on serve and backhand.
• Tactical: Sessions translate technique into decisions. The first five shots frame most points, so patterns are scripted, tracked, and rehearsed under time pressure. Doubles rounds sharpen reads and net instincts that later pay off in singles.
• Physical: Athletic work runs daily in the intensive blocks. Expect movement mechanics, acceleration and deceleration, rotational strength, and energy system sessions calibrated to match demands. Load is managed to keep legs fresh for competing.
• Mental: Coaches address routines and pressure directly. Players practice pre point cues, tempo control, and reset strategies after errors. Video review is used for debriefs that encourage ownership rather than excuses.
• Lifestyle and education: Sleep habits, nutrition choices, and school coordination are part of planning for long stays. With rooms and dining on site, adherence is high and feedback loops are short.

This approach is grounded and measurable. Daily plans include a small number of key focuses. Players are encouraged to write notes after sessions and to track a few metrics that matter: first serve percentage in patterns, depth windows hit on crosscourt defense, return quality on second serves.

Alumni and success stories

Nargiso’s resume as a coach and manager crosses a wide range of Italian and international players. Across junior, ITF, and Challenger levels, he has supported careers that built durable habits and match identities. Families who follow Italian tennis will recognize several surnames connected to the Como area and beyond. The point for a prospective family is not name dropping. It is the network the academy inhabits. Coaches speak the same competitive language as the broader Italian circuit, which makes tournament scheduling and practice sets easier to arrange.

Culture and daily life

Academy life is a rhythm rather than a spectacle. Mornings often start with mobility in the garden or a short activation in the gym. The first court block follows, with a clear theme that ties into the week. Lunch is close and simple. Afternoons vary between a second court block and the day’s athletic session. Evenings are quiet. There is space to study, stretch, and recover. Younger players benefit from the absence of long commutes. Older players appreciate the focus. Staff encourage bilingual communication. International juniors can work in English while soaking up local Italian off court, which makes life beyond the academy more enjoyable.

Community matters. With only three courts, everyone knows each other’s schedules and goals. That creates accountability and a supportive tone. Coaches can watch a player finish a set, then walk with them to the restaurant and continue the conversation about spacing on approach shots. Parents who visit for short stays often comment on the calm feel. It is a performance environment without the noise.

Costs, access, and transparency

The school arm in Como publishes packages with clear weekly structures. Entry level options typically include one sixty minute session per week. More advanced school options add a second weekly session or extend duration. The Pre Academy bridge increases volume and integrates athletic work. Intensive junior stages and the year program are quoted directly, which is common among boutique European academies since accommodation and tournament travel can shift totals. In past seasons, indicative annual figures with full board have been communicated around the low twenty thousand euro range for the junior pathway, while weekly and monthly stages are priced according to duration and boarding. Families should confirm current offers and any seasonal supplements well in advance.

One note on value. When comparing hours and attention per week, this academy’s volumes compete with larger European names. The difference is how the hours are used. A smaller staff keeps feedback consistent across multiple weeks. Players who are changing grips, rebuilding footwork, or adjusting serve mechanics often benefit from that continuity.

What makes it different

Several strengths differentiate Nargiso Tennis Academy from bigger brands.

• Scale and proximity: Courts, rooms, and meals share the same address or sit a short walk apart. That is rare in Italy outside of resort complexes and it saves both time and energy.
• Tour informed details: The structure limits private high performance projects so attention stays sharp. Warm up and cool down are built in as separate commitments rather than afterthoughts. Coaches travel to tournaments and, when appropriate, can support short training stints at a player’s home base during transitions.
• A true circuit doorstep: The Como and Brianza cluster offers dense competition and practice opportunities. Travel costs remain predictable. Players can build match play without hopping flights every week.
• Match identity first: The academy teaches players to know who they are between the lines. Instead of a long menu of drills, weeks revolve around the few patterns that win matches for that player.

For families comparing options, it helps to consider fit. If you want a vast campus with dozens of courts and a resort atmosphere, look at models like Rafa Nadal Academy blueprint. If you prefer an Italian program with a larger footprint and a different staffing scale, review the Piatti Tennis Center. If your player thrives in a small group, coach led environment with tight feedback loops, Nargiso’s setup will likely feel right. Methodologically, there are echoes of Scandinavian precision found at Good to Great methodology, yet the Como version is more intimate and rooted in Italy’s clay culture.

How a week can look

A sample junior intensive week might open with a Sunday check in and baseline assessment. Monday through Friday include nine tennis sessions of roughly ninety minutes each and five athletic sessions of about sixty minutes. Themes rotate through serve patterns, return quality, rally tolerance, and finishing at the net. Video is used sparingly but purposefully to capture checkpoints. Saturday features a lighter morning block or match play before departure for short stays. Long term athletes fold in study hours and treatment slots. Tournament weeks adjust to preserve legs while sharpening decision making.

Meals remain consistent and unhurried. Breakfast focuses on simple carbohydrates and proteins. Lunch leans fresh and familiar. Dinner keeps portions appropriate for next day demands. Hydration is tracked. Stringing turnarounds are scheduled the day before match play so players never scramble pre warm up.

Future outlook and vision

The academy’s footprint has grown by depth rather than by court count. That path seems set to continue. Expect gradual enhancements to video, movement analysis, and recovery, plus the same restrained approach to roster size. The objective is to move more players from short stages into longer stays that allow meaningful change. Tournament support will likely expand in step with the cohort, not ahead of it. The vision is clear: sustainable performance built on routines that travel from Como to any surface and any week on the calendar.

Final take

Choose Nargiso Tennis Academy if you value clarity, proximity, and coaching time that actually belongs to your player. It suits juniors who need two to six weeks to reshape a stroke or refine a tactical identity. It works for families looking for a year in Italy with boarding on site and for professionals who want a focused base that can travel to tournaments. If your priority is a massive campus with constant entertainment, this is not that. If your priority is a small staff watching each session and speaking with you daily about progress, this is the right address near Lake Como.