Former five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova will forever remember 2022 as one of the most special years of her life as she is now praying for more blessings in 2023. Sharapova, 35, announced in mid-July that she and her fiance Alexander Gilkes welcomed a baby boy.
Sharapova, who retired from pro tennis in early 2020, named the baby boy Theodore. “2022 has redefined the meaning of love & family. And I am so much better for it. (cheers emoticon) to 2023,” Sharapova captioned her Instagram post.
Sharapova on her new role
After retiring, Sharapova focused on growing her businesses and starting a family.
In a recent interview with NewBeauty, Sharapova said that motherhood was something she “dreamed of forever.” Since Theodore is Sharapova’s first child, the Russian tennis legend admitted that she is learning on the go.
“That’s hard! I think it depends on where you are in life; I can’t compare them. I was really ready for motherhood. It was something that I dreamed of forever. I have a really good relationship with my own mom—we’re really close and share a lot—and I’m an only child, so I felt like I was ready to have a child of my own and pass along my own experiences.
I’m really excited to watch this little boy grow up, although that is still incredibly hard because I’m still mostly trying to figure things out! Every day is a new day and every time you think you have something down, you realize you don’t.
There’s always something new to learn and about them and about yourself. That’s incredibly beautiful, but it’s also challenging,” Sharapova told NewBeauty. Caroline Wozniacki, who also retired in early 2020, also welcomed a child this past summer. But in Wozniacki’s case, it was the second child for her and her husband David Lee.
