Inside Rafael Nadal's family life as the King of Clay prepares for last dance: Wife Maria is his childhood sweetheart from Mallorca, son Rafa Jr stole the show at the Olympics, while sister 'Maribel'

Rafael Nadal has always been a humble superstar. You'd quicker find him fishing with friends back in Mallorca than courting glitzy galas.

And now we arrive at the final act: this week's Davis Cup, Malaga, where tickets to watch his farewell have been brushing the £20,000 mark.

The Spaniard, 38, said he no longer has the physicality nor the 'ego' to continue on the hamster wheel of tournaments and obligations that elite tennis requires.

And waiting for him on the other side of this transformative journey, the same people who were there with him at the start - plus a certain little somebody.

Nadal is a product of the people who made him - from the 'tough love' uncle who had him training in tears, to the sister who introduced him to his wife, to the mother who cries when she sees him play.

Mail Sport takes you through Nadal's family life - a part of his existence he will be so grateful to enhance when the curtains come down.

His beloved accomplice through all this, in sickness and health, for zero Grand Slams and for 22, is his childhood sweetheart wife Maria Francisca Perello.

The lovebirds tied the knot in October 2019, reportedly a full 17 years after they started dating, at La Fortaleza castle in Mallorca with hundreds of guests.

Maria (AKA Xisca Perello) is the director of the Rafael Nadal Foundation, which was established in 2008 and aims to promote education and sport for deprived children.

She is hugely invested in Nadal's career - as he bowed out of the Madrid Open earlier this year, which had been expected to be his final bow in his homeland, she was in tears.

There's now a third character in their long-term union - Rafael Nadal Jr. The legend's son was born in October 2022 and adorns many of Maria's Instagram posts, watching on from the stands.

At the Olympics in Paris this mini-me swung his own racquet - admittedly from the comfort of his mother's lap - as his father played in the doubles alongside Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz.

His attention did wane at times - he seemed more preoccupied at one juncture with a bottle of milk - but enthusiastically clapped as the crowd cheered for Rafa.

Nadal has admitted he doesn't want his son to follow in his footsteps.

'I would prefer if he plays another sport, if I'm being honest... It pains me to say it with everything that tennis has given me,' he said.

'If he wants to play tennis, I will support him 100 percent. I would never veto his decision to play tennis, but if he plays another sport, even better.'

On being a father, he added: 'It's a radical change. No doubt about that. I think everyone that's a father or a mother knows that it's a change. You have to adapt to it.'

Offering a helping hand through it all is his sister Maria Isabel, nicknamed Maribel, with whom he is incredibly close.

Maribel is the deputy director of Nadal's Academy and is forging a path in fashion. In 2023 she launched her fashion brand Crabs Company from Mallorca, which mostly sells summer attire - swim shorts, t-shirts, polo shirts.

She is also a keen advocate for padel, a sport she has played since childhood, when their father built one of Mallorca's first courts, and competes at a regional level.

As she told Mail Sport earlier this year: 'Padel is a very social sport where you can have a lot of fun, with a quick learning curve. And everyone can have a great time regardless of their level.'

Sister Maribel is also credited with introducing Nadal to his wife Maria many years ago as they went to school together.

Being close to his family is something that is essential to Nadal's existence. he has been known to rent houses when visiting tournaments, hosting an array of family and friends, rather than staying in a hotel room.

'I'm from Mallorca, from a small village, so I always have my family around – not just my mother and sister, but my uncles, my cousins, everyone. Everybody is really close. I see all my family every day,' he once told The Independent .

'Sometimes it's good not to be in a hotel. I love being on the sofa watching the TV. In hotels they give me big rooms, but usually I'm alone. Here I'm in a house and you have more people around. I don't like being alone very much. I like to be with people.'

His mother, Ana Maria Parera, and father, Sebastian Nadal Homar, are both businesspeople.

Ana used to own a perfume shop, but gave it up to support her kids. For her, helping them to succeed is the main thing.

'The most important thing is to see that your son has become a person who has fought, whatever his job. So that he succeeds in what he wants and is happy in what he wants,' she once confessed. Ana has also helped out with his academy.

Nadal's parents own a house in the Mallorcan town of Porto Cristo. His father has an insurance company, a glass and window company, and a restaurant.

Of course, a career that has seen him earn £170million means his life does have the odd extravagance. In 2013 he bought his beachfront Mallorcan villa for around £3m, while he also has a £5m Cessna Citation CJ2+ private jet to get to tournaments. Oh, and a £4.5million 80 Sunreef Power catamaran super-yacht to boot.

But he is a man who knows, and is grateful for, his roots. Sport runs in the blood of the family. That's where his uncles come in.

One uncle, Miguel Angel, used to play football for Barcelona and won 62 caps for Spain.

He won five league titles with Barcelona as well as the European Cup, and represented his country at three World Cups and one European Championship.

Nadal loves football and would train on the streets as a kid, although he committed the mortal sin in the eyes of Barca followers - becoming a Real Madrid fan.

Then there's uncle Toni, who he has a lot to thank for. Toni is the one who reared him on court as a boy growing up.

It wasn't always easy. Nadal would actually sometimes come home in tears because the training was so demanding, and Toni had conflicts with his protege's mum Ana Maria.

'I demanded a lot from Rafael because I cared a lot,' said Toni.

"I believe in the work and I believe in the players who are strong enough to cope with the intensity of this work.

'I cannot understand another style of life. In my opinion you always have to know your place in the world. This is why I was like this with Rafael. I knew he could cope.'

That ethos could get brutal. If Nadal forgot his water bottle, he'd have to train with no water no matter the sweltering heat. And he was the one cleaning up after practice, not the other boys.

But through this process, a legend was made.

'Toni was grating on my nerves, [but] I knew I had a good thing going with him,' Nadal wrote in his 2011 book Rafa: My Story.

'Because Toni was right. So often infuriating but, in the long run, right.'