TENNIS ace Rafael Nadal has broken his silence over wife Mery Perelló’s condition after it was leaked to the national media that she had been admitted to a clinic in Palma de Mallorca.
A recent-ish picture of María Francisca ‘Mery’ Perelló and tennis whizz Rafael Nadal (photo: Wotchit)
The couple were furious to find headlines on the covers of glossy magazines and the national press revealing how Mery, 34, was in observation 31 weeks into her pregnancy with the couple’s first child, possibly awaiting an operation, the nature of which was not revealed.
Rafa announced he was going to try to find out who was behind the leak and sue for breach of privacy.
Since the story broke, speculation has been rife in the media, forcing Nadal to make an official statement.
“Whatever has been coming out in the press about my wife’s state of health, she’s fine – there, I’ve said it,” an annoyed Rafa told Spanish reporters.
What the media says
Latest media information claims Mery is at the Quirónsalud Palmaplanas Hospital and will remain there until week 34 of her pregnancy at least ‘resting up’.
This was stated by reporter Vanesa Sánchez in the daily broadsheet La Razón, and who said that, according to her sources of information, if Mery were to be discharged before giving birth, she would be staying with Maribel Nadal Parera – Rafael’s sister and Mery’s best friend since school, who introduced the couple when they were teenagers.
Official photo from Rafa and Mery’s wedding in Manacor in October 2019, released by the Rafael Nadal Foundation. Mery works there as project manager, and Rafa’s mum Ana Parera is director
Maribel lives in Palma, meaning she is nearer to the hospital than Mery’s and Rafa’s home in Manacor, where they were both born and have lived their entire lives, other than when Mery was at university in the island capital and later working for Endesa electricity and for MAPFRE insurance.
Vanesa Sánchez claims that ‘medical staff do not consider Mery’s situation to be of concern’, but that they want the unborn baby to ‘continue to gain weight’.
La Razón states that the child, reported to be a boy, is ‘likely’ to be born prematurely and that the parents ‘have accepted this’.
The fact Rafa is still across the pond for the US Open and has not returned home is said to be proof that Mery and their unborn child are in good health and good hands, since it is thought that if the situation changed for the worse, Nadal would pull out of the tournament and head back to Mallorca to be with his wife.
How are Rafa – and the rest of Spain – doing at the US Open?
Rafa is now through to round four, where he will have to beat the USA’s Frances Tiafoe – recent victor over Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman – to get through to the quarter finals.
Nadal had an easy three-set win against France’s Richard Gasquet, ending on 6-0, 6-1, 7-5.
Rafael Nadal after his round-three win against France’s Richard Gasquet on Saturday at the US Open
Also through to round four is Spain’s rising star Carlos Alcaraz, who won the third round on Saturday against the USA’s Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-3 6-3.
So the US Open could eventually become a Spanish derby after all, despite Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s having fallen 6-3, 6-7(2), 3-6, 6-4, 2-6 in a gruelling five-set round-four match to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini.
Málaga-born Alejandro Davidovich Fokina made it to round four, but will miss playing in the quarter finals after losing his hard-fought five-set match to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini
And, in theory, whichever way the round-three match between the up-and-coming Pablo Carreño and Australia’s Álex de Miñaur had gone, it would have been a victory for Spain: Álex, known as ‘The Demon of Tasmania’, was born in Sydney to a Uruguayan father and Spanish mother, and began playing tennis aged five in Alicante, with Adolfo Gutiérrez, who is his current coach.
Pablo Carreño, from the northern region of Asturias, during his match against Australia’s Álex de Miñaur on Friday
Carreño, who recently netted the Montréal Masters 1000 trophy and famously beat world number one Novak Djoković to earn an Olympic bronze medal, was hailed the victor over De Miñaur after a four-set match ending on 6-1 6-1 3-6 7(7)-6(5), meaning he is through to round four.
Here, he will play his old Tokyo 2020 rival, Russia’s Karen Khachanov – whom he lost to in the semi-finals and who would go on to take the silver after being beaten by Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
