Rafael Nadal has got engaged to his long-term girlfriend, Maria Perelló following a 14 year courtship.

According to Hello! magazine, the couple are planning on tying the knot this autumn in Mallorca and have secretly been engaged for eight months.

Hello’s sister publication HOLA! revealed that Spanish player Rafa, 32, proposed to Maria, 30, also known as Xisca, back in May during a romantic trip to Rome.

However, they reported that the couple decided to keep the happy news private for the first eight months of their engagement.

Perello is a 30-year-old insurance worker and business graduate. She also serves as a project director for the Rafa Nadal Foundation, the charity he founded almost ten years ago.

Nadal, who recently placed as runner-up at the 2019 Australian Open, has made no secret of his desire to have children, saying he is a ‘family guy’ and is looking forward to having his own brood in the not too distant future.

But the dedicated sportsman admitted his tennis career has made it difficult to think about starting a family until now.

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.’

He mentioned at the end of last year: ‘I have a girlfriend too and I am not alone to take decisions.‘

‘You have to suit situations you know. Having family? I don’t know, things are not easy to be predicted. At this age, I thought that I would have already been a former player and that I would have started a family.’

Back in 2011, Maria spoke about her relationship with the tennis champ.

She told The Telegraph: ‘Travelling together everywhere, even if I could, would not be good either for him or for me.

‘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.

‘And then he would have to be worrying about me … No. If I followed him everywhere, I think there’s a risk we might stop getting along.’

She also revealed she is private about their relationship, even with her family, saying this works for them best as a couple.

Meanwhile, Rafa has vowed to fight on after being denied his 18th Grand Slam title in Melbourne Park by Serbian star Novak Djokovic.

Following the spectacular defeat, Nadal addressed the crowd, thanking his family, friends, team and Maria, who painted a morose figure from the stands.

Nadal had a turbulent 2018, undergoing surgery after bowing out of the 2018 Australian Open with an injury.

Recurring knee and ankle issues sidelined him for much of the 2018 tour, with speculation surrounding the possibility of him missing the 2019 tournament in Melbourne.

The couple will now look ahead to the French Open in Paris in May, where Nadal’s clay surface play style will be on full display.