Rafael Nadal says he and his family are ‘very well’ after birth of first child in four years
Nadal, 37, became a father for the first time on Monday when he became the first men’s player to give birth since the tennis event was first held in 1978.
The five-time Grand Slam champion was due to start a training camp at the U.S. Tennis Association’s National Tennis Center in Bradenton, Florida earlier in the week but had to cancel on Tuesday night.
“I’m really well, I’m excited,” Nadal said in an interview with ESPN.com in which he also revealed a big birth secret.
“My wife is very well as well. We’ve been preparing for this baby for four years now and the day they told us about it was really emotional. It’s a shock, of course, but I’m looking forward to it and I believe this baby is going to be very strong,” he said.
Born in August to a tennis mother and the former ATP tour tennis player Arnaud Clement, the baby girl was initially due on Aug. 8. The official naming of the baby followed an official request from the family to have their last name be the first name of the woman they were expecting.
Nadal’s new son will receive the name Joao after the father he hopes his mother, Arnaud Clement, and will be introduced later this month.
In an unprecedented move, Nadal said he and his wife will use an artificial insemination procedure to start a family and he has no plans to wait for their first biological child to be born in two years.
“I believe I will bring another girl to the tennis,” he said. “I have no idea who my biological child will be, but my wife will bring a girl.”
Nadal said he and his wife had been waiting for the birth of a child for four years before they got pregnant.
“We’ve been dreaming for this moment for four years already so we think this is going to happen