A new kind of love! Tennis star Maria Sharapova announced that she and fiancé Alexander GilkesTheir 1st child, baby boy Theodore was welcomed into the world on Thursday, July 1.
“Theodore VII•I•MMXXII 🍼🐣,” the 35-year-old athlete wrote via Instagram alongside a photo of herself and Gilkes, 42, smiling down at their newborn on Friday, July 15. “The most beautiful, challenging, and rewarding gift our little family could ask for,” she added.
The couple first announced their pregnancy in April via Instagram. “Precious beginnings!!! Eating birthday cake for two has always been my specialty,” she wrote. Gilkes commented on the post, adding a heart-eye emoticon.
The Russian native and businessman began to date in 2018 and were engaged two years later.
“I said yes from the first day we met,” Sharapova wrote via Instagram in December 2020 alongside a black-and-white snap of herself kissing Gilkes’ forehead at the time. “This was our little secret, wasn’t it 💍🥂@gilkesa.”
The England native also confirmed the proposal via his own social networks. “Thank you for making me a very, very happy boy. I look forward to a lifetime of loving you and learning from you @mariasharapova #💍, he wrote at the time.
The couple’s nuptials will mark Gilkes’ second time down the aisle. Squared Circles cofounder was married to designer before. Misha NonooFrom 2012 to 2016.
Sharapova got engaged to Sasha” VujačićIn 2011, after two years of being together, they called it quits. She then began dating. Gregory DimitrovThey separated in 2017
The five-time Grand Slam winner is best known for her legendary tennis career. However, she announced that she would be retiring from the game in February 2020.
“In giving my life to tennis, tennis gave me a life. I’ll miss it every day,” the model wrote in a statement at the time. “Looking back now, I realize that tennis has been my mountain. My path has been full of detours and valleys, but the views from its peak have been breathtaking. After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I’m ready to scale another mountain — to compete on a different type of terrain.”
The Sports Illustrated covergirl went on to reveal that tennis “tested my character, my will, my ability to channel my raw emotions,” adding that playing the sport revealed her “true essence.”
Sharapova’s news came two years after she was suspended from the International Tennis Association for testing positive for a banned substance, meldonium, during the Australian Open in January 2016.
“I did fail the test and take full responsibility for it,” she said at an L.A. press conference in March of that year, going on to claim the suspension was “unfairly harsh.” Sharapova used her time off from the game to attend Harvard University’s buisness School.
