Maria Sharapova Announces She's Pregnant with 1st Child in Instagram Photo

Timothy Rapp @@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVApril 20, 2022

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 03: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY - For Non-Editorial use please seek approval from Fashion House) Maria Sharapova attends the Chloe Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022/2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on March 03, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)

Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images

Former tennis star Maria Sharapova announced Tuesday on Instagram that she and fiance Alexander Gilkes are expecting their first child.

"Precious beginnings!!!" she wrote. "Eating birthday cake for two has always been my specialty."

José Morgado @josemorgado
On her 35th birthday, 5 times Grand Slam Maria Sharapova announces she is pregnant. <a href="https://t.co/00Bg8k9HMM">pic.twitter.com/00Bg8k9HMM</a>

The announcement came on Sharapova's 35th birthday.

Sharapova, a former No. 1-ranked player and four-time Grand Slam singles winner, retired from the sport in 2020. She won 36 singles titles in her career and earned a cool $38.7 million in prize money.

"Tennis showed me the world—and it showed me what I was made of," she wrote at the time in an essay for Vanity Fair. "It's how I tested myself and how I measured my growth. And so in whatever I might choose for my next chapter, my next mountain, I'll still be pushing. I'll still be climbing. I'll still be growing."