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Former tennis superstar Maria Sharapova turned 37 on Friday (April 19). Her fiancé, Alexander Gilkes, celebrated the Russian's birthday and gifted her birthday balloons, which put a smile on her face.
Sharapova and British businessman Gilkes started dating in 2018, and in 2020, the couple got engaged. They welcomed their son, Theodore, in July 2022.
As the former World No.1 celebrated her 37th birthday on Friday, her fiancé, Alexander Gilkes, shared an image of Sharapova holding balloons, wishing her a happy birthday in the caption.
“Happy birthday My love @mariasharapova,” Gilkes captioned the image.
Sharapova also posted a video on her Instagram story, featuring her all smiles and having fun with the balloons she received. In the caption, she joked that she takes birthday balloons seriously.
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“I take birthday balloons very seriously,” Sharapova captioned.
On Wednesday (April 17), Sharapova also shared a couple of pictures and videos on her Instagram feed, describing it as 'a little pre-birthday getaway' from Getaria in Spain. The pictures and videos featured her and her fiancé tasting a variety of dishes. In the post's caption, she joked that the cheesecake was worth every bit of the jet lag.
Maria Sharapova retired from tennis in February 2020 after a decorated career, winning 36 singles titles, including five Grand Slams. She also ranks No. 4 on the WTA's all-time career prize earnings list.
"Your perspective just changes" - When Maria Sharapova talked about raising her son Theodore with fiance Alexander Gilkes
Back in December 2023, Maria Sharapova spoke on a podcast with Dax Shepard and candidly discussed life post-retirement and the challenges of raising her son Theodore with her fiancé, Alexander Gilkes. She explained the impact motherhood has had on her thought perspective.
Sharapova stated that she feels guilty leaving her son Theodore at home when going out, even though she thought she could do so in her early 20s and 30s. The five-time Grand Slam champion admitted that being a mother changes your thoughts and perspectives completely.
"I was just saying, the guilt that you feel like leaving the house as a new mom, Going through my teens and my 20s, early 30s was like, I got this down. I'm a tough girl. I'm gonna be okay leaving my child. [But] Oh no, I leave the house and I think twice about it," she continued. "Yeah. Like what's the purpose of my trip? Is it really important? Your thought perspective just completely changes." Sharapova said.
The Russian also added that she envisioned post-retirement as an opportunity to travel the world, but after giving birth to Theodore, her world now revolves around him.
"So, you know, I envisioned post-retirement, traveling around the world, and experiencing, these amazing cities from different perspective and then I gave birth to Theo, and then my world just revolves around him and work and yeah, and I don't know when I'm going on vacation," Sharapova said.
