Tennis great Rafael Nadal has married his girlfriend, Xisca Perello, in a ceremony on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
The star studded event on Saturday was attended by the king and queen emeritus of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia, and numerous other famous guests.
The guests at the private ceremony at the La Fortaleza fortress in the northern part of Mallorca arrived discreetly and could mostly only be seen through the windows of their vehicles.
Nadal tied the knot with 31-year-old Perello at La Fortaleza, with a reported 350 guests invited to a private ceremony.
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.
Nadal, 33, met his wife through his younger sister Maribel, a childhood friend of Perello. The pair reportedly got engaged in Rome in May.
The guests included two of the tennis superstar’s uncles – Toni Nadal, his former longtime coach; and Miguel Angel Nadal, a former player for FC Barcelona and Spain’s national soccer team, both of whom gathered at Nadal’s tennis academy in Manacor, Nadal’s birthplace, before travelling as part of a large group to the private ceremony on Punta Avancada Peninsula.
Also attending the ceremony were some of Spain’s other tennis stars of the past quarter-century, including 1998 French Open champion Carlos Moya, and Nadal’s current coach David .
Wedding dress designer Rosa Clara confirmed on social media that it was the company behind Perello’s gown, which it described as “an exquisitely clean-lined haute couture design”.
The two have managed to keep the wedding fairly under wraps, and Perello generally shuns the spotlight.
According to local outlet Mundo Deportivo, Nadal and his bride left notes on guests’ seats reminding them that this was a private ceremony and asking them not to take photos. They were, according to the report, asked to put their cell phones in lockers provided.
Nadal ranks among the greatest tennis players to ever pick up a racquet.
He has captured 19 Grand Slam singles titles, just one shy of the record held by his arch-rival, 38-year-old Swiss great Roger Federer.
Twelve of those major titles have come at the French Open, tennis’ biggest clay-court event, where Nadal has a mind-boggling 93-2 record dating back to 2005.
Nadal has won 85 singles titles overall (fourth-most in tennis history) and spent a total of 196 weeks as the world’s No. 1 player.
