Rafael Nadal confirms bombshell rumour after fan speculation

Rafael Nadal has confirmed he and his wife Xisca Perello are having their first baby, as well as that he will play Wimbledon this year after fears he may not regain fitness after the French Open.

Rumours have swirled for some weeks that the Australian and French Open champion and Perello were expecting their first child.

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It was reported last week that Perello was pregnant by Spanish gossip magazine Hola!, with Nadal confirming the couple's happy news in a press conference on Friday.

The 22-time grand slam champion has said in the past that starting a family will come after he retires, only increasing speculation this could be the 36-year-old final season on tour.

When speaking to the press on Friday, Nadal asked for privacy when it came to he and Xisca's family.

"If everything goes well, I'm going to be a father. I'm not used to talking about my private life. We live more peacefully with a lower profile. I don't expect that my life will change much with it," he said.

Perello was reportedly seen wearing loose-fitting clothing with her husband at the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as during the final rounds of Nadal's triumph at the French Open.

She was also reportedly seen with a noticeable baby bump as she holidayed with Nadal on their yacht in Mallorca this week.

On other happy Nadal news for tennis fans, he said the progress on his chronically sore left foot had been positive in the weeks following Roland Garros.

After requiring an unspecified number of painkilling injections througout the French Open, Nadal later admitted his foot had been all but numb during the final against Capser Ruud.

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Nadal said that his intention was to play at Wimbledon, but that he would have to wait and see how he was feeling when he arrived in London.

"My intention is to play Wimbledon, but it will all depend on what happens with my body this next week," Nadal said.

"I'm without pain for a week and have been practising, so it tells me there may be a chance to play in the tournament."

After missing Wimbledon last year due to injury and in 2020 thanks to the tournament's cancellation, the two-time winner seems keen to get back out on the grass.

He last reached the Wimbledon final 11 years ago, when he finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic.

"I haven't played on grass for three years and I have to adapt, every day I have been recovering sensations and feeling better. I have a week left before playing and I have to test myself little by little," Nadal said.

"Advancing in the first rounds is crucial. If you advance, you pick up the pace to reach the end. You have to survive no matter what."

Crucially, Nadal said the worst of the pain that had troubled him at the French Open had subsided.

"I'm happy, I haven't been limping for a week," Nadal, who won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, said in Mallorca.

"I have noticed changes with the treatment, still have strange sensations, sometimes I can't feel my foot, but the pain that did not allow me to support my weight on my foot has subsided."

With AAP

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