If people need one more reason to think that Rafael Nadal has everything, the fact that he is now engaged and be married might do it. The Spanish player, who currently ranks no. 2 in the world, got engaged to Xisca Perelló in May 2018. Not a lot of things are known about Perelló as the two have chosen to be a bit private about their relationship. But below are some of the things that we do know about the Spanish beauty that has stolen Nadal’s heart.
Who is Xisca Perelló?
Perelló, whose full name is Maria Francisca Perelló, is a business graduate and she used to work in the insurance industry. At the age of 31, she started to help to manage the Rafa Nadal Foundation as project director. She also works for the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy in her boyfriend’s hometown of Manacor, Mallorca.
When did they start dating?
It is unclear how Nadal and Perelló met but it is said that the two already knew each other when they were teenagers because they went to the same school. They became lovers by 2005, the same year that Nadal won his first Grand Slam in the French Open. The two successfully kept their relationship a secret until 2008, when the media took photographs of them at the beach.
Even before the two were publicly confirmed as a couple, Perelló was already a regular fixture in the crowds of Nadal’s games. During Wimbledon 2007, she was accidentally photographed watching his games though she was not a figure in the public spotlight yet. Now that Nadal and Perelló’s relationship is public, she has been seen several times in the stands with his mother Ana Maria Parera and sister Maria Isabel Nadal.
Rafa and Xisca made the conscious decision to be as private as possible
Because of the public interest surrounding their relationship, a lot of interviewers have attempted to ask Nadal about Perelló. Former professional tennis player and now interviewer Jim Courier is among those who are brave enough to do that. During the 2014 Australian Open, for example, Courier notably asked Nadal if Perelló would watch his final. He just awkwardly said that Australia is too far from Spain.
Nadal about having children
While privacy is something important for the couple, Nadal did say that he does not want to have children while he is still competing. Describing himself as a family man, he wants to be able to focus on looking after his kids. He admitted that having children while traveling on the road could prove too difficult for them.