Getty Rafael Nadal's girlfriend, Maria Francisca Perello, looks on at the 2017 ATP Masters Series tournament
Rafael Nadal is reportedly engaged to longtime girlfriend, Maria Xisca Perello, but their wedding date remains a mystery. A Spanish TV station had reported the couple planned to get married in June 2019, but Nadal’s representatives told People these reports were false.
“Normally we don’t speak about Rafa’s private life, ever,” Nadal’s rep Benito Pérez-Barbadillo told People. “However this information is absolutely incorrect and fake news from non-credible sources.”
Perello prefers to stay out of the spotlight and used to avoid attending Nadal’s matches. Now, Perello has become a regular at Nadal’s major tournaments but still prefers to remain out of the limelight.
Nadal Was Upset That His Engagement With Perello Went Public
GettyRafael Nadal kisses Maria “Xisca” Perello at the 2016 Monte-Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament.
Nadal was not pleased when news broke of his engagement to Perello. The tennis star relayed his frustration in an interview with Marca.
“I’m not saying anything, it’s already annoyed me that the wedding has come out in the press – you want me to ask about the wedding, right?’ Nadal explained to Marca.”I understand you have you work to do, but I’m not saying anything.”
While the couple has confirmed they are engaged, there has been no official wedding date released despite lots of rumors. Knowing how the couple prefers their privacy, fans may not know about the wedding until after the fact.
Nadal Is Open to the Couple Having Kids
GettyNadal’s girlfriend Xisca Perello at the 2019 Australian Open.
Nadal has been leery of forming a family with his busy travel schedule as a pro tennis player. Nadal admitted in a 2015 interview with La Nacion that he wanted to one day be a father, but it would have to be a mutual decision with Perello.
“Yes, good. I am a very familiar person, my education has been directed to the family, with which one never knows what will happen in the future, but I understand that I will form a family,” Nadal told La Nacion (translated). “I will have children, I do not know how much. I love children, but you do not decide unilaterally, that’s a two-person thing. I would like to have several children, but I can not tell you if two, or three, or four.”
Nadal’s Girlfriend Initially Did Not Travel to His Tournaments
GettyRafael Nadal’s girlfriend, Xisca Perello, and sister, Maria Isabel Nadal, pictured at the 2018 US Open.
Perello has become a regular at Nadal’s tournaments, but it was not always this way. Perello initially admitted that it would add anxiety to be at Nadal’s tournaments in a rare 2011 interview with The Telegraph.
“Traveling together everywhere, even if I could, would not be good either for him or for me,” Perello explained to The Telegraph. “He needs his space when he is competing, and just the idea of me hanging around waiting on his needs all day wears me out. It would asphyxiate me. And then he would have to be worrying about me … No. If I followed him everywhere, I think there’s a risk we might stop getting along.”
