The former No. 1 tennis player in the world is taking her relationship with boyfriend Alexander Gilkes to the next level as she says yes to his marriage proposal.
- Dec 18, 2020
AceShowbiz - Retired tennis star Maria Sharapova is engaged.
The former Russian athlete, who bowed out of the sport in February (20), has accepted a proposal from British art dealer Alexander Gilkes after two years of dating.
Sharing the news with fans on Instagram on Thursday (17Dec20), the bride-to-be wrote beside a slideshow of photos and videos of the pair, "I said yes from the first day we met... This was our little secret, wasn't it @gilkesa."
Gilkes also posted a sweet snap of the couple and captioned it, "Thank you for making me a very very happy boy. I look forward to a lifetime of loving you, and learning from you @mariasharapova."
It will be the first marriage for Sharapova, and the second for Gilkes. He was previously married to designer Misha Nonoo, a close friend of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, prior to their split in 2016.
Maria Sharapova was a former number one player in the world and notably won Wimbledon in 2004 when she was just 17 years old. She also won the U.S. Open in 2006, the Australian Open in 2008, and the French Open twice in 2012 and 2014.
"Tennis showed me the world -- and it showed me what I was made of," the bride-to-be said earlier this year. "It's how I tested myself and how I measured my growth."
"I realise that tennis has been my mountain," she continued. "My path has been filled with valleys and detours, but the views from its peak were incredible. After 28 years and five Grand Slam titles, though, I'm ready to scale another mountain - to compete on a different type of terrain."
