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Former Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova recently posted an endearing photo of her son Theodore joyfully unwrapping a present on her Instagram account.
Sharapova and her partner Alexander Gilkes welcomed their first child into the world on July 1, 2022. They named their baby boy Theodore. She announced the arrival of their precious bundle of joy on Instagram, sharing a heartwarming photo of herself and Alexander gazing adoringly at their newborn son.
Maria Sharapova shared an adorable photo of Theodore joyously opening gifts with the caption that he loves opening gifts just as much as her. Fans were delighted to see the tennis star's son enjoying the moment.
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"Someone loves opening gifts as much as mama," Sharapova wrote.
The former World No.1 announced her engagement to British businessman Alexander Gilkes in December 2020. On Sharapova's 35th birthday in April, the couple joyfully revealed that they were expecting their first child together.
The birth of their son was unveiled in a delightful Instagram post. The five-time Grand Slam champion captioned the image, which depicted her and Gilkes embracing their newborn son, his birth date inscribed in Roman numerals.
The Russian has been devoted to expanding her business ventures since retiring from professional tennis in 2020. However, becoming a mother has been the most rewarding moment of her post-tennis life.
Who are Maria Sharapova's parents?
Maria Sharapova's parents are originally from Gomel, Belarus, formerly part of the Soviet Union. Fearing the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, they moved to Nyagan. Two years after her birth, Sharapova's family relocated to Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, a bustling city situated on the Black Sea.
Her father, Yuri Sharapova, worked in the construction industry and met her mother, Yelena Sharapova, in their hometown of Gomel. Yuri then found employment in the Siberian oil fields in Nyagan and Yelena stayed home to take care of their daughter.
Both her parents were avid tennis fans and, unable to afford a genuine child-size racket, they cut off the handle of an adult one for her.
The Sharapovas decided to venture to Florida in order to get Maria enrolled at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton. Unfortunately, only Yuri was able to secure a visa to travel to the United States, so Yelena had to remain in Sochi and wait for her visa application to be approved.
To finance the trip, the Sharapovas had to borrow several hundred dollars from their parents, an immense sum considering Russia was in a state of financial turmoil at the time. The new, non-Communist era left many average working families, such as the Sharapovas, struggling to acquire the basic necessities of life, as the state no longer provided jobs, housing, and healthcare for all citizens.
