{"id":335744,"date":"2025-08-11T12:48:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T12:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/335744\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T12:48:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T12:48:17","slug":"rafael-nadal-becomes-father-for-a-second-time-tennis-ace-and-wife-mery-perello-welcome-son-as-the-sweet-meaning-behind-his-name-is-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/335744\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal becomes father for a second time! Tennis ace and wife\u00a0Mery Perello welcome son as the sweet meaning behind his name is revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rafael Nadal<\/a> has become a father for the second time.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Spanish tennis star, 39, and wife Mery Perello, 37, who are already parents to two-year-old son Rafa, welcomed a second son on August 7th at the Quir\u00f3nsalud Palmaplanas hospital in Palma, Mallorca, according to local news outlets.<\/p>\n

It’s reported that the couple poignantly chose to name the new arrival after Mery’s father Miguel, who passed away in April 2023 aged 63 following a long illness.<\/p>\n

Rafael, who has made history winning 92 singles titles, including 22 Grand Slams before retiring in 2024, is fiercely private and has not made an official announcement about the new arrival.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The couple also didn’t announce Rafa’s birth, though the sportsman had confirmed she was pregnant a few months beforehand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fellow former tennis star Boris Becker<\/a>, 57, who is also expecting a child with wife Lilian, 35,\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0appeared to confirm the news as he took to X with a gushing post.<\/p>\n

\"Rafael <\/p>\n

Rafael Nadal has become a father for the second time (pictured 2024)<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Spanish tennis star, 39, and wife Mery Perello, 37, welcomed their second son on August 7th in Palma, Mallorca\u00a0according to local news reports (pictured 2021)<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The couple are already parents to\u00a0two-year-old son Rafa (pictured supporting his father at the Davis Cup 2024 in Malaga)<\/p>\n

\"Fellow <\/p>\n

Fellow former tennis star Boris Becker, 57, who is also expecting a child with wife Lilian, 35, appeared to confirm the news as he took to X with a gushing post\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said: ‘Congratulations to @RafaelNadal and his wife Maria welcoming their second boy Miquel ! May God bless the child!’.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Daily Mail have contacted Rafael’s reps for further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rafael also noted at the time: ‘I’m not used to talking about my private life. We live calmer with a lower profile. I don’t expect that my life will change much with it.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rafael previously spoke about his desire to have children, describing himself as a ‘family guy’ but admitting his sporting career had made it difficult to think about having kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said: ‘I would love to have children, boys, girls, I’m a person who loves kids and I’m a family guy. But also I tell you that the reality is, the years keep passing, I would like to start to do all of this when my sporting life determines it.’<\/p>\n

The couple were dating 14 years before they married, with Rafael revealing in January 2019 they were engaged before tying the knot in a lavish Mallorca ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Juan Carlos I, the king of Spain from 1975 to 2014, was believed to be among those in attendance while the Michelin-star chef, Quique Dacosta, was reportedly in charge of catering for the October 2019 wedding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he was rumoured to be attending by helicopter, Juan Carlos I of Spain made a relatively more low-key arrival to the ceremony in a Suzuki people carrier.<\/p>\n

\"Rafael <\/p>\n

Rafael and his wife keep their personal lives private, and have not made an official announcement about the new arrival (pictured 2022)<\/p>\n

\"They <\/p>\n

They also didn’t announce Rafa’s birth, though the sportsman had confirmed she was pregnant a few months beforehand (pictured with baby son\u00a0Rafa in 2022)<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The couple were dating 14 years before they married, with Rafael revealing in January 2019 they were engaged before tying the knot in a lavish Mallorca ceremony<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The tennis star has made history winning 92 singles titles, including 22 Grand Slams before retiring in 2024 (pictured at his final match in November 2024)<\/p>\n

The former king of Spain, who abdicated the throne in 2014, is a longstanding friend of the tennis ace and warmly greeted crowds with a wave as he was chauffeured to the glamorous event.<\/p>\n

Mery, who is well-known as an incredibly private person, spoke about her relationship with the tennis champ in 2011.<\/p>\n

She told\u00a0The Telegraph<\/a> in a rare interview: ‘Travelling together everywhere, even if I could, would not be good either for him or for me.<\/p>\n

‘He needs his space when he is competing, and just the idea of me hanging around waiting on his needs all day wears me out. It would asphyxiate me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘And then he would have to be worrying about me \u2026 No. If I followed him everywhere, I think there\u2019s a risk we might stop getting along.’<\/p>\n

In May, twelve months after what proved to be his final match on Court Philippe Chatrier, Rafael was honoured by\u00a0Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros<\/p>\n

There were t-shirts with the message \u2018Merci Rafa\u2019 on each of Philippe Chatrier\u2019s 15,000 seats. Most were the red-brown of the clay but a few hundred white ones spelled out \u2018RAFA\u2019 with a love heart, and 14 RG, to mark his absurd tally of championships.<\/p>\n

His official retirement ceremony came last November, a melancholic occasion when his defeat in the singles contributed to Spain\u2019s elimination from the Davis Cup.<\/p>\n

This felt like the tennis world\u2019s chance to make amends and Roland Garros did not disappoint, orchestrating a note-perfect occasion.<\/p>\n

Rafael emerged, all in black, on to the court, took up the microphone and began with a little-known story of his first ever visit here, as a 17-year-old who was unable, due to injury, to compete.<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In May, twelve months after what proved to be his final match on Court Philippe Chatrier, Rafael was honoured by (L-R) Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Nadal's <\/p>\n

Nadal’s legendary professional tennis career came to an end following last year’s Davis Cup\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Thank you very much,\u2019 he said. \u2018This is difficult. This is tough. I have lived many emotions on this court, without doubt the most important tennis court in my career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018It has been an incredible story that began in 2004 when I came to Roland Garros for the very first time.<\/p>\n

\u2018I could barely walk due to my foot injury but that year I climbed to the top of the court on crutches and looked from up there. I dreamed of coming back the following year to compete.<\/p>\n

\u2018In 2005, I was finally able to play here for the first time.\u2019<\/p>\n

Raphael was in floods of tears by the end and the crowning moment was when he was joined on court by Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.<\/p>\n

\u2018It means a lot that you are all here,\u2019 said the 38-year-old. \u2018You pushed me to my mental, physical limits. Nothing could have been so thrilling without these long-lasting rivalries to keep us pushing every single day.\u2019<\/p>\n

The ceremony ended with a beautiful, theatrical touch. A groundsman came out with a brush and cleared away an area of clay, revealing a plaque bearing his name and footprint. The announcer declared: \u2018Your footprint will stay here forever.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rafael Nadal has become a father for the second time. The Spanish tennis star, 39, and wife Mery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[92,79,1068,813,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-335744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-tennis","11":"tag-tvshowbiz","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115010214992200386","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}