Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. The Spanish legend is the all-time leader in ATP titles, as he has 22 of them, and was the number-one player in the world for 209 weeks. His tennis resume is up there with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, and he is still doing great things, as Nadal is the current world number two on the ATP list. He has truly become a legend of tennis and sport generally, while also becoming one of the most recognizable faces in the world. His private life, on the other hand, has been out of the limelight for most of the time. To learn a bit more about that, let's take a look at Rafael Nadal's wife, Maria Francisca Perello.

Rafael Nadal's Wife: Maria Francisca Perello 

Maria Francisco-Perello

Rafael Nadal and Maria Francisca Perello have been married since October 2019. While their private life has been largely kept under the radar, there is certain information that we do know about the pair. For instance, they have one child together, born around the third anniversary of their marriage, in October 2022. Additionally, while they officially got married in October 2019, the duo has been together for fourteen years, since 2005. It is unclear why they waited for so long to tie the knot, but they have been happy together for almost 20 years now and it does not seem to fade. However, before we get to the marriage, let's look at the early life of Maria Francisca Perello.

Interestingly enough, Maria Francisca Perello was born in the same city as Nadal, Manacor. Manacor is a small city on the island of Mallorca and it is presumably where the pair met. She was born on July 7th, 1988, according to Famous People, and grew up in a working-class family. As she went to high school, a mutual friend introduced the now-married couple, but that was not the start of their relationship. Some years passed and they started to date in late 2005. In general, Maria is a very private person and, according to Famous People, rarely even talks about Rafa with her own family. However, while details about her private life are bare, we do know some things that are very interesting.

Perello, after finishing high school in Mallorca, moved to the UK and studied Business Administration and English in London. Her transition there was tough, but as the pair were dating at the time, it must have been easier for her. While Nadal was winning his first major title in Paris, Maria was struggling with the language and the move away generally but managed to work it out. For her post-graduate studies, however, she returned to Spain, finishing up her education in Barcelona, according to People. However, it is unknown whether she has a stable job, other than running the charity foundation that she set up with her husband.

The Rafael Nadal Foundation was started in 2008 and it was created to work with disadvantaged youth across the globe. Her position there is Project Director and she has been doing great things there. Unfortunately, she was not of that luck in previous jobs. In particular, while working for MAPFRE, a sporting company, the experience of Maria Francisca Perello was horrible. Word was spread that she was dating Rafael Nadal and working became impossible, as coworkers implied she was working there only because Nadal was her boyfriend. However, that experience made Maria stronger and she is now running a huge charity organization and doing some great work for the community in Mallorca, too.

Only three years after their marriage, which was held in their birth island of Mallorca, Nadal, and Francisca Perello announced they were having a baby. It was actually Nadal that announced it during a press conference. Speaking about the experience of having children, Nadal said upon announcing the happy news:

“I don't know what will change in my life because I don't have experience, but I don't think it will change my professional life.”

In a rare interview with The Telegraph, Maria Francisca Perello shared why she does not go to many games that her husband, Rafael Nadal, plays. She had this to say:

“He needs his space when he is competing, and just the idea of me hanging around and waiting on his needs all day tires 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.”

This is all the information we have on the wife of Rafael Nadal, Maria Francisca Perello.