Former tennis ace Sharapova announces pregnancy on 35th birthday

New York: Retired tennis star and five-time Grand Slam champion, Maria Sharapova, has announced on her 35th birthday that she is expecting her first child with fiance Alexander Gilkes.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) Sharapova announced the news with an Instagram post, where the bikini-clad former world […]

New York: Retired tennis star and five-time Grand Slam champion, Maria Sharapova, has announced on her 35th birthday that she is expecting her first child with fiance Alexander Gilkes.

 

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A post shared by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova)

Sharapova announced the news with an Instagram post, where the bikini-clad former world No. 1 posed by the ocean and made a cheeky reference to her special day, according to wtatennis.com on Wednesday.

“Precious beginnings!!!” she wrote, coupled with a white heart and angel emoji. “Eating birthday cake for two has always been my specialty.”

Sharapova and Gilkes, a British businessman, have been in a relationship since 2018. They announced their engagement last December on Instagram, said the report.

A frequent guest in Sharapova’s player’s box while she was on tour, Gilkes also accompanied her off the court to star-studded affairs including the famed Met Gala in New York in 2019 and 2021.

“Sharapova retired from tennis in 2020, just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and her last career match was a first-round defeat to Croatia’s Donna Vekic at that year’s Australian Open. She is just one of 10 women to win all four Grand Slam tournaments all-time, winning five in all, and spent 21 weeks at the top of the WTA rankings,” according to WTA.