Tennis queen Maria Sharapova on Tuesday announced that she was pregnant with her first child. The former world number one made the surprising revelation on the occasion of her 35th birthday to announce the good news.
The Russian five-time Grand Slam champion, who retired from lawn tennis in 2020, shared the news on Instagram to her 4.2 million followers. "Precious beginnings!!!," she wrote alongside a photo of her standing on a beach and smiling. "Eating birthday cake for two has always been my specialty."
While she shared the good news of Tuesday, on the day of her 35th birthday, Maria was earlier spotted seemingly cloaking her baby bump under a brown coat while out in Malibu, California on April 6.
Maria began dating Alexander, 42, in 2018. The couple made their major red carpet debut as a couple at the 2019 Met Gala.
The British businessman proposed to the five-time Grand Slam tennis champion in December 2020. He presented her with a dazzling £300,000 diamond engagement ring. “I said yes from the first day we met ❤️ This was our little secret, wasn't it @gilkesa,” wrote Maria, who announced their engagement on Instagram.
She included a slideshow of sweet snapshots, as well as a video of herself twirling on the sidewalk.
Taking to his own Instagram page, Alexander thanked his fiancee for “making me a very very happy boy and saying yes” to his proposal. The art dealer continued: “I look forward to a lifetime of loving you, and learning from you @mariasharapova”
The retired Tennis champion completed under the Russian flag during her career - and she is the only Russian woman to have won a career Grand Slam - Sharapova has lived in the United States since she came to the country as a young tennis prodigy.
Image Source: Instagram/mariasharapova