Professional tennis player Rafael Nadal is due to marry his longtime girlfriend María Francisca Perelló this autumn.

The spanish magazine "Hola" reported on the upcoming wedding during the morning of Wednesday (Jan. 30). Apparently Nadal proposed to her in May in Rome. With his eighth victory in the Italian capital, the tennis player had recaptured the top of the world ranking!

For 14 years, Rafa and Xisca (as the 30-year-old María is called) have been a couple. María Perelló went to school with Nadal's sister Maribel. Already at the beginning of Nadal's athletic career, the couple held back in public. For the first time at the French Open 2005, where Nadal achieved his first Grand Slam victory, both of them approved to be publicly photographed together.

She always accompanies Nadal to his important tournaments. But she skips the smaller competitions. "If I followed him everywhere, I would risk losing our sense of understanding," she quotes in the biography "Rafa: Mi Historia." These are some of her few words, that have ever became public. Perelló studied management and administration at the Balearic University. Today she is responsible for projects of the Rafael Nadal Foundation.

"No comment" is the only thing that Nadal says about the details of the planned wedding. Thus, it can only be assumed that the wedding date is to be in October. Since then, there are only a few tournaments on Nadal's calendar. According to the magazine "Vanity Fair", the wedding will take place in the church of Manacor. The following party is scheduled to take place in the Pula Golf Club in Son Servera.

Source: Mallorcazeitung.es