"That's been my biggest and fulfilling role"- Maria Sharapova on becoming a mother

Maria Sharapova has said that becoming a mother has been her most fulfilling role so far.

The former World No. 1 and her fiancee Alexander Gilkes were blessed with a baby boy in July and he was named Theodore.

Speaking on The CMO Podcast hosted by Jim Stengel, Maria Sharapova was asked about her new role as a mother. She stated that her pregnancy period and spending time with her son in the last eight weeks was her biggest role.

"I was like, yeah, you've mentioned all these roles that I think wait in the last nine months during pregnancy and in the last eight weeks of having this little child, that's been my biggest and fulfilling role," the Russian said.

Maria Sharapova was also asked how things have changed since the birth of her son. She responded by saying that she had an entirely new appreciation for parenthood and that time management has been quite different for her.

"Well an entirely new appreciation for parenthood and the feeling of knowing how vulnerable and dependent, you know, this little boy is on us, I think just changes your perspective on life and I know so many parents say that but it's really, really true," the former World No. 1 said. "And having this caring for someone like, like you do when it's your own child. Just changes so much of how you look at work. How do you look at your family, how do you take decisions?. I feel like time management has been a big shift for me."

Maria Sharapova on her conversation with Serena Williams during her injury break

Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams at the 2019 US Open

Sharapova was invited to ESPN to commentate on the US Open women's singles semifinal between Ons Jabeur and Caroline Garcia.

She said that she spoke to Serena Williams when they met during the Met gala last year. The Russian said that she told her rival that she was "so much better" than the current generation of tennis players.

"We spoke about it at the Met last year during this time of year and I said no disrespect to this generation but you are so much better and you need to go out there, so I’m glad that she had a chance here. It was amazing to see Serena’s run and the glory and the gracious tenacity as she carried through to the end of her career Sharapova said.