Sharapova announces she is pregnant with her first child

The five-time Grand Slam champion announced the news on her 35th birthday via a social media post

Maria Sharapova at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz WTA International tennis tournament in 2019 Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

April 20, 2022

Retired tennis star Maria Sharapova announced on Tuesday that she and her British fiancé, Alexander Gilkes, are expecting their first child.

Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion, made the announcement on her social media accounts onTuesday, which was incidentally also her 35th birthday.

In the pictures, she is seen posing on the beach with a small bump and the caption, “Precious beginnings. Eating birthday cake for two has always been my specialty.”

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A post shared by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova)

Gilkes reacted to Sharapova’s announcement with a simple heart-eye emoji. The pair have been in a relationship since 2018 and got engaged in December 2020, which Sharapova also announced via a social media post.

Sharapova is one of only 10 women to win a career Grand Slam in tennis history

The Russian tennis player remains one of the most popular and recognisable faces in tennis, even though she retired in January 2020.

She is one of only 10 women in the history of the sport to win all the four Majors at least once. During her career, she won a total of 36 WTA singles titles and over $38 million in career prize money.

She earned many times more off the court and was named the highest-earning female athlete in sports every year from 2005 to 2015 by Forbes.

Since retiring, Sharapova has gone on to become a successful businesswoman and an ambassador for several global brands.