Rafa Nadal and Mery Perelló, parents of their first child

Rafa Nadal and Mery Perelló are already parents, as confirmed by EL PAÍS.

The 36-year-old tennis player and his 34-year-old wife celebrate the birth of their first child, after experiencing a complicated end of pregnancy.

The baby was born this Saturday morning in Palma.

Perelló, 37 weeks pregnant, was admitted the night before to the same private clinic where she had spent a few weeks monitoring her health.

The last weeks of pregnancy have been difficult for the couple.

Perelló, general director of the Rafa Nadal Foundation since 2019, had to be admitted (first to that clinic and then to the Palma hospital and then return to the clinic) to treat some ailments, which were not made public, at the end of August , around the 31st week of pregnancy.

Although some sources pointed out that there was a possibility that he would have to undergo surgery, the concern and rumors after the news broke were silenced when Nadal decided not to leave the US Open to meet his wife in Mallorca.

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Rafa Nadal on his upcoming fatherhood: "I don't expect this to mean a change in my professional life"

A couple who gave birth to their son on Thursday tells at the gates of the Mallorcan clinic that they have crossed paths with Nadal and his wife through the corridors of the same around half past nine this Saturday morning.

It was the moment when Perelló was going down to the delivery room in a wheelchair, pushed by a caretaker.

“Rafa has greeted us very kindly, with a good

”, she has commented.

The athlete has been the only person in the family who has been present at the birth.

It is likely that they will not leave the hospital until Monday, after the first tests have been done on the newborn.

At the gates of the clinic, located on the outskirts of Palma, a group of photographers has gathered to try to take a snapshot of the couple or family members who come to see the newborn.

The hospital has a section for admissions of people who demand a greater degree of privacy, where the Nadal couple is staying.

In fact, they have private access to the car parks and can leave the clinic discreetly and without having to set foot on the street.

The couple, who have always been very reluctant to talk about their private lives, confirmed the pregnancy weeks after the magazine

offered, exclusively, the images of the news.

They also had to deal with the leaking of Perelló's income.

She was then in the 31st week of pregnancy and, thousands of miles away, Nadal was preparing in the United States to play the US Open.

From the first moment, the Manacorí tennis player transmitted a message of tranquility about the state of his wife and that of his son.

Despite appearing calm during his statement, his mind was elsewhere and not on winning.

“As you know, on a personal level I am in a situation that is important to me.

And I have to manage everything.

My wife is fine.

What happens is that they are situations that are more difficult to manage when one is far from home, ”he stressed at a press conference.

After being defeated in early September, Nadal confessed that he needed to take a break and return home to be close to his wife during the final weeks of pregnancy.

In addition, he recognized that it was time to dedicate himself to "much more important things than tennis."

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At the end of September, Nadal publicly reappeared at the Laver Cup in London, a competition organized by Roger Federer.

In his fifth edition, the Swiss tennis player, a good friend of the Mallorcan, played with him in his last game before retiring.

After being defeated in a doubles match, Nadal spoke again about the situation he was going through at the time: “These have been difficult weeks.

Few hours of sleep, a little bit of stress in general, situations a little more complicated than usual at home... I've had to deal with all that a bit, which is a different pressure than what you're used to in professional life” , acknowledged the 14-time winner of Roland Garros.

United since adolescence and married since 2019, Nadal and Perelló have never hidden their desire to be parents.

They met through his sister, Maribel, who was Perelló's classmate.

Born and raised in Manacor, they both have a lot in common.

2005 was an important year for Nadal, both personally and professionally.

He formalized his relationship with Perelló and won his first Roland Garros, becoming the new international tennis sensation.

After 15 years of dating, the couple married in the fall of 2019 in a private celebration in his homeland of Mallorca.

From the link, only two photographs were distributed in which it was seen how the bride and groom were dressed.

The celebration was attended by well-known faces such as David Ferrer, Feliciano López, Carlos Moyá or the king emeritus, Juan Carlos I.

Little has been known about their sentimental relationship, despite having been together for 18 years.

In one of the few interviews that the tennis player has given talking about his private life, the one he gave in 2017 to his friend and former Argentine tennis player Juan Mónaco, he confessed the desire he had to be a father for the first time: “I would love to have children .

I am a person who loves children, I am very family-oriented and, obviously, I would like to start a family when my sports life is over”.

Nadal has not yet put an end to his career, but the truth is that injuries, more and more frequent, are forcing him to stop for months and think about a possible and early retirement.

Although, as he himself assured after confirming the news of the pregnancy, his life did not have to be different:

"I don't expect it to make any changes in my professional life."

Now, with her son already in her arms, we will have to wait to find out if it is true.