Maria Sharapova enjoys date night with fiance Alexander Gilkes, jokes that parenthood has led to them preferring early dinners

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova enjoyed a dinner date with her fiance Alexander Gilkes at the Michelen-star Japanese restaurant 'Shunji' in Los Angeles on Friday (February 10). In a social media post, she joked that the new parents prefer an early dinner now.

The couple went public with their relationship in 2018 and got engaged to be married in December of 2020. On her birthday on April 20 last year, the former Wimbledon champion announced her pregnancy.

"Precious beginnings!!! Eating birthday cake for two has always been my specialty," she captioned the post.

Sharapova and her fiance British businessman Alexander Gilkes welcomed their first child, a son named Theodore, on 1 July last year. On July 15, the Russian took to her Instagram to announce the birth of her son.

"Theodore VII•I•MMXXII. The most beautiful, challenging, and rewarding gift our little family could ask for," she captioned the post.

The five-time Grand Slam champion on Friday made a post on her dinner date through her Instagram stories. In one of the stories, she also jokingly asked if there were other parents who also prefer an early dinner slot.

"Any other parents here preferring the 5:15 pm dinner slot?" she captioned the story.

The 35-year-old also shared more images of the couple's dinner date at the Japanese restaurant on her Instagram story.

"Just glorious. And spoiling. And making me miss Japan." she wrote in another story.

Maria Sharapova's Instagram stories

Maria Sharapova hails Nike co-founder Phil Knight for not using his phone during LeBron James' shot

Maria Sharapova at the 2018 US Open

Retired Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova applauded Nike co-founder Phil Knight for 'living in the moment' during LeBron James' iconic shot on 7 February.

American sporting legend, LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul Jabbar's 38,387 points on Tuesday. He now has 38,390 points, which makes him NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Jabbar's record has stood tall for a whopping 39 years. Though the LA Lakers lost the match 133-130 to the Oklahomaoma City Thunder, James' name was etched in history.

Sharapova reposted a photo from the NBA on ESPN's Twitter account. The account posted a photo of James' record-breaking shot, where many could be seen capturing the historic moment on their phones.

The Russian, however, noted that Nike co-founder and billionaire Phil Knight was the only one not on his phone just experiencing the iconic moment.

"Phil Knight. No screen. No need," she captioned the tweet.