DESPITE Rafael Nadal being a household name, his wife Xisco Perello tends to stay out of the limelight.
However, she’s been by her husband’s side during his incredible career which he has now retired from in an emotional video released on social media.
Xisca Perello was born Maria Francisca Perello on July 7, 1988, in Manacor, Spain.
Her first job was a sports marketer in London.
She graduated with a degree in business management and administration from the University of Palma and in 2016 became project director for the Rafael Nadal Foundation.
Nadal launched the charity in 2008.
The pair reportedly started dating in 2005 despite having known each other for a number of years before.
Having dated for 17 years, it was a case of “finally” when they tied the knot.
They announced their engagement in January 2019, before getting married the following October.
The couple said their vows in front of around 350 guests at the La Fortaleza castle in Majorca, the island of his birth.
Among the invitees were actors Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman and Hugh Laurie.
The couple live in a £3m mansion on the island.
Nadal and his wife Xisca welcomed their first child, a boy, in October 2022.
A source told Diario de Mallorca: “Both the mum and her baby, born in the 37th week of her pregnancy, are doing well.
“The birth took place in a private clinic on the island where Mery had to remain under observation and rest completely in the last few weeks.”
In one of her only interviews, Xisca revealed that she chooses not to attend most of Nadal’s tennis matches in a bid to preserve their relationship.
She added that she is concerned she would disrupt her fellow Spaniard’s focus if she appeared at all events.
However, she is sometimes seen at some of his biggest matches.
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2011, Xisca explained: “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.
If I followed him everywhere, I think there’s a risk we might stop getting along.
Xisca Perello
“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.”
However, she was a more frequent visitor at the 2020 Australian Open, and watched all of Nadal’s four-set win over Nick Kyrgios.
Xisca doesn’t have any public social media channels.
However, admiring fans have set up social media accounts to share pictures.
Xisca has previously spoken out about avoiding fame and celebrity status.
She explained: “It’s not a world I want to be part of, nor do I think Rafa would have chosen to be with a woman who looked for that in life.”
“I am here to let you know I am retiring from professional tennis,” he said in an emotional statement on his social media channels.
“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, the last two especially.
“I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations.”
