{"id":12040,"date":"2026-06-03T07:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/12040\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T07:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T07:03:31","slug":"meet-tennis-legend-rafael-nadals-2-children-rafael-jr-and-miquel-he-shares-with-wife-mery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/12040\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet tennis legend Rafael Nadal’s 2 children Rafael Jr. and Miquel he shares with wife Mery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rafael Nadal<\/a>‘s glittering tennis career includes two Olympic medal’s, 22 Grand Slam titles and 209 weeks at No. 1 in the world men’s singles ranking. But away from the court, he’s a proud family man, welcoming two children with wife Mery<\/a> since the pair tied the knot in 2019.<\/p>\n

Read on to find out what Rafael’s said about becoming a father, the two boys he’s raising and life with his wife who grew up near to his family home.<\/p>\n

\"Rafael<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal bites his gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal is one of the sport’s most famous players<\/p>\n

Who is Rafael Nadal?<\/p>\n

Rafael ‘Rafa’ Nadal Parera was born on 3 June 1986. He ranked at No. 1 in the world in men’s singles for an incredible 209 weeks, closing the year as top dog five times.<\/p>\n

The tennis legend won 22 grand slams during his career and is now happily enjoying retirement with his wife and with two children.<\/p>\n

\"Rafa<\/p>\n

Rafa Nadal and Xisca Perello lean against a sandstone wall looking out on the sea and mountains after being married.<\/p>\n

Rafa and Mery said ‘I do’ in 2019<\/p>\n

Marriage to Mery<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal tied the knot with Mar\u00eda Francisca Perell\u00f3<\/a> in 2019. Known as Mery or Xisca, his wife grew up in the same area of Mallorca as the tennis player.<\/p>\n

They are believed to have been introduced through Rafa’s sister Mar\u00eda Nadal. In Rafa: My Story, he noted they began dating in 2005 and made their first red carpet together in 2011.<\/p>\n

\"Rafael<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal in a black shirt and jacket, waving while holding his son Raphael who wears a stripes jumper.<\/p>\n

Rafael Jr. is the oldest son of Mery and Rafa<\/p>\n

Rafael Jr.<\/p>\n

The couple welcomed their first child<\/a>, son Rafael Jr. on 8 October 2022. When the pro revealed they were expecting in June 2022, he said: “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.”<\/p>\n

Rafael Jr.<\/a> has occasionally been spotted<\/a> on the sidelines cheering for his dad \u2013 who isn’t completely opposed to his son following in the family business. He told Vanity Fair<\/a>: “If that’s what my son wants to do, I’m going to support him. I don’t think that will be the case, but I’m going to support him in whatever he wants to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rafael<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal’s wife Xisca Perello in a beige coat and grey dress, expectant with their second child Miquel.<\/p>\n

Mery appeared in support of her husband at the French Open in 2025<\/p>\n

Miquel<\/p>\n

The birth of the couple’s second son Miquel<\/a> was revealed in August 2025 to People<\/a>\u00a0magazine. According to the Europa Press<\/a>,\u00a0their youngest child was named after Mery’s father who passed in April 2023.<\/p>\n

Baby Miquel starred in the final episode of Netflix series Rafa,\u00a0sleeping comfortably in his mother’s arms.<\/p>\n

\"Rafael<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal and wife Xisca on the red carpet for ‘RAFA’.<\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal was launched back into the spotlight with Netflix documentary ‘Rafa’<\/p>\n

What’s he doing now?<\/p>\n

Rafael retired from the tennis court in 2024 but fans got the chance at an inside glimpse at the tennis pro’s private life in Netflix series Rafa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The series charts his rise from French Open win to a whopping 22 Grand Slam titles. Rafa has fought through several injuries<\/a> but they eventually led to his retirement and the player seems to be enjoying some well-earned time with his family. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal‘s glittering tennis career includes two Olympic medal’s, 22 Grand Slam titles and 209 weeks at No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[272,494,5090,5089,5087,5091,5086,28,5088],"class_list":["post-12040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-getty-images","tag-grand-slam-titles","tag-maria-nadal","tag-mery","tag-nadal-parera","tag-rafa-and-mery","tag-rafa-nadal","tag-tennis","tag-xisca-perello"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}