Rafa Nadal reveals he is engaged to girlfriend of 14 years Mery Perelló 

Rafa [Rafael] Nadal has got engaged to his long-term girlfriend, Mery Perelló following a 14 year courtship.

According to Hello!, the couple are planning on tying the knot this autumn in Mallorca.

Hello’s sister publication HOLA! revealed that Spanish  Rafa, 32, proposed to Mery, 30, also known as Xisca, back in May during a romantic trip to Rome. 

However, they reported that the couple decided to keep the happy news private for the first eight months of their engagement.

Perello, was born Maria Francisca Perello and she is a 30-year-old insurance worker and business graduate.

The brunette beauty also serves as a project director for the Rafa Nadal Foundation, the charity he founded almost ten years ago.

According to Hello!: ‘The beautiful couple are set to tie the knot this autumn in a Mallorca-based ceremony’

Nadal, who recently came second place at the 2019 Australian Open, has made no secret of his desire to have children, saying he is a ‘family guy’ and is looking forward to having his own brood in the not too distant future.

But the dedicated sportsman admitted his tennis career has made it difficult to think about starting a family until now.

He said: ‘I would love to have children, boys, girls… I’m a person who loves kids and I’m a family guy.

‘But also I tell you that the reality is, the years keep passing, I would like to start to do all of this when my sporting life determines it.’ 

He told Essentially Sports, at the end of last year: ‘I have a girlfriend too and I am not alone to take decisions.(sic) 

‘You have to suit situations you know. Having family? I don’t know, things are not easy to be predicted. At this age, I thought that I would have already been a former player and that I would have started a family.’

Back in 2011, Mery spoke about her relationship with the tennis champ. 

She told The Telegraph: ‘Travelling together everywhere, even if I could, would not be good either for him or for me. 

‘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.’ 

Mery also revealed she is private about their relationship, even with her family, saying this works for them best as a couple.  

Looking ahead: Nadal, who recently came second place at the 2019 Australian Open, has made no secret of his desire to have children, saying he is a ‘family guy’