Maria Sharapova on becoming a mother: "One of the best things that's happened to me in my life"

Maria Sharapova recently talked about her experience of becoming a mother, expressing that it has been one of the most rewarding moments of her life. The former World No.1 and her fiancé, Alexander Gilkes, welcomed their first child, a son whom they named Theodore, in July 2022.

Sharapova is currently attending the 2024 Wimbledon Championships in London. During her time there, she joined 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova and Steve Weissman at the Tennis Channel to have a chat.

The former World No.1 was asked about her son, Theodore, who just turned two years old this month, and about her experience with parenthood.

In response, Maria Sharapova shared that since becoming a mother, she has discovered that motherhood requires a lot of negotiation skills. She expressed that she was surprised to learn, how the negotiation skills she learned from her business ventures and time playing tennis have been useful in parenting.

"It's going. There's a lot of negotiation skills that go on with parenthood which I didn't know that the negotiations that I learned through my career in business and in the sport that I would apply to parenthood. But I'm learning about that every day. You got to give something to take something," Sharapova said [at 0:25].

Sharapova stated that being a mother has been one of the best things to happen to her. She explained that as Theodore is growing up, she is also learning and growing as a mother.

"It's been one of the best things that's happened to me in my life and I get to teach him and grow with him. I get to learn through his actions and his findings. He's exploring the world and I get to explore with him. He has very long eyelashes and I don't know where they come from but I appreciate them," she added [0:41].

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Maria Sharapova: "I have an entirely new respect for motherhood and parenthood"

Maria Sharapova (Credits: Getty)

While speaking to former German tennis player Andrea Petkovic in an episode of the "Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast," Maria Sharapova shared how becoming a mother has given her a newfound appreciation for motherhood and parenthood.

"I have an entirely new respect for motherhood and parenthood and just that this is the moment of how you like you know your body is experiencing completely different, your mind somewhere else," Maria Sharapova said [7:38].

She said that managing the responsibilities of motherhood alongside her career has been both challenging and rewarding.

"That’s been challenging, rewarding because I’m also you know I’d love to work, I’m very ambitious. I’ve always had big goals about where I know I’ve set foundation in the business world for several years during my career ... I wanted to come home and have this beautiful family and so yeah it's just that it's a bit of a juggle game," she added [7:52].

Sharapova concluded by saying that her love for both her role as a mother and her ambitious work ethic has helped her "juggle" both lives.