Rafael Nadal to marry childhood sweetheart Mery Perello in lavish ceremony [Photos]

Tennis star Rafael Nadal and wife-to-be Mery Perello [Courtesy]

Rafael Nadal will marry next month at an abbey in northern Majorca, a Spanish TV station has claimed.

The tennis star and his childhood sweetheart Mery Perello will share their big day with more than 500 guests, Telecinco showbiz programme Socialite said.

A reporter told the weekend show, which is presented by a well-known showbiz journalist called Maria Patino, that Spanish three-star Michelin chef Quique Dacosta would be in charge of the menu.

She also claimed Rafa, 32, would eat a different more vegetable-based meal than the rest of the guests who would feast on a traditional meat and fish-based menu.

Nadal will marry next month at an abbey in northern Majorca [Courtesy]

The Telecinco show did not reveal the exact date of the wedding, which glossy magazine Hola reported earlier this year would be in autumn when it broke the news Rafa and stunning Mery were going to tie the knot.

The new report has prompted speculation that the two-time Wimbledon winner may miss this year’s tournament to enjoy his honeymoon.

He may even miss this year's Wimbledon because of their honeymoon [Courtesy]

The French Open, the tournament Rafa has won for an all-time record of 11 times, takes place from May 26 to June 9 which would make the period from June 10 to the start of July the most likely date for a wedding if it ends up taking place next month.

There has no been no official comment from the tennis star to the new Spanish reports.

Rafa and Mery Perello - real name Maria Francisca Perello - have been dating for 14 years.

The brunette gave up a job in insurance to become project director for the Rafa Nadal Foundation, the charity he founded nearly ten years ago.

She is well-known as an incredibly private person.

Rafa’s home town of Manacor in Majorca has in the past been named as the possible location for the couple’s wedding.

The tennis star told Hola! in March last year: “Obviously I intend and want to form a family. I love children and I would like them to do what they want in life.”

Hola! said when it went public with news the couple were going to marry that they had got engaged in Rome last May.