Rafael Nadal has always been a humble superstar. You’d quicker find him fishing with friends back in Mallorca than courting glitzy galas. And now at the final act, the Spaniard, 38, said he no longer has the physicality nor the ‘ego’ to continue on the hamster wheel of tournaments and obligations that elite tennis requires. Nadal is a product of the people who made him – from the ‘tough love’ uncle who had him training in tears, to the sister who introduced him to his wife, to the mother who cries when she sees him play.
His beloved accomplice through all this, in sickness and health, is his childhood sweetheart wife Maria Francisca Perello.
The lovebirds tied the knot in October 2019, reportedly a full 17 years after they started dating, at La Fortaleza castle in Mallorca with hundreds of guests.
She is hugely invested in Nadal’s career – as he bowed out of the Madrid Open earlier this year, which had been expected to be his final bow in his homeland, she was in tears.
There’s now a third character in their long-term union – Rafael Nadal Jr. The legend’s son was born in October 2022 and adorns many of Maria’s Instagram posts, watching on from the stands.
At the Olympics in Paris this mini-me swung his own racquet – admittedly from the comfort of his mother’s lap – as his father played in the doubles alongside Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.
His attention did wane at times – he seemed more preoccupied at one juncture with a bottle of milk – but enthusiastically clapped as the crowd cheered for Rafa.
Nadal has admitted he doesn’t want his son to follow in his footsteps.
‘I would prefer if he plays another sport, if I’m being honest… It pains me to say it with everything that tennis has given me,’ he said.
‘If he wants to play tennis, I will support him 100 percent. I would never veto his decision to play tennis, but if he plays another sport, even better.’
On being a father, he added: ‘It’s a radical change. No doubt about that. I think everyone that’s a father or a mother knows that it’s a change. You have to adapt to it.’
Offering a helping hand through it all is his sister Maria Isabel, nicknamed Maribel, with whom he is incredibly close.
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Maribel is the deputy director of Nadal’s Academy and is forging a path in fashion. In 2023 she launched her fashion brand Crabs Company from Mallorca, which mostly sells summer attire – swim shorts, t-shirts, polo shirts.
She is also a keen advocate for padel, a sport she has played since childhood, when their father built one of Mallorca’s first courts, and competes at a regional level.
Being close to his family is something that is essential to Nadal’s existence. he has been known to rent houses when visiting tournaments, hosting an array of family and friends, rather than staying in a hotel room.
‘I’m from Mallorca, from a small village, so I always have my family around – not just my mother and sister, but my uncles, my cousins, everyone. Everybody is really close. I see all my family every day,’ he once told The Independent.
Nadal’s parents own a house in the Mallorcan town of Porto Cristo. His father has an insurance company, a glass and window company, and a restaurant.
Of course, a career that has seen him earn £170million means his life does have the odd extravagance. In 2013 he bought his beachfront Mallorcan villa for around £3m, while he also has a £5m Cessna Citation CJ2+ private jet to get to tournaments. Oh, and a £4.5million 80 Sunreef Power catamaran super-yacht to boot.
‘Everybody is really close. I see all my family every day’, Nadal once told The Independent.
But he is a man who knows, and is grateful for, his roots. Sport runs in the blood of the family. That’s where his uncles come in.
