Maria Sharapova heads to a private workout session as she’s seen for the first time since her engagement to art dealer Alexander Gilkes
Maria Sharapova was spotted enjoying a drive and a stroll out in Manhattan Beach, California this Friday.
The 33-year-old former tennis star was sleek and chic in a fitted black raincoat and leggings that emphasized her still athletic figure.
Friday was her first public sighting since she announced her engagement to art dealer Alexander Gilkes – who was spotted in a car in the area the same day.
Looking fab: Maria Sharapova was spotted enjoying a drive and a stroll out in Manhattan Beach, California this Friday
Maria, the only Russian and one of 10 women to get the Career Grand Slam, went public with the engagement on Thursday.
‘I said yes from the first day we met,’ she gushed alongside an Instagram album of them together. ‘This was our little secret, wasn’t it.’
She has been dating the 41-year-old British businessman since 2018 but they have been relatively private about their romance.
Alexander is awash in connections to his country’s Royal Family – for one thing he is pals with Prince William, having been at Eton with him and Prince Harry.
When you got it: The 33-year-old former tennis star was sleek and chic in a fitted black raincoat and leggings that emphasized her still athletic figure
His friendship with the Duke of Cambridge is close enough that Alexander was a guest at William’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011.
In fact Alexander’s brother Charlie once dated Pippa Middleton who is now married to hunky racing driver James Matthews, the future Laird of Glen Affric.
Pippa and Charlie remained friendly after their breakup to the point that they both eventually attended each other’s weddings.
Meanwhile Alexander also spent 2012 to 2016 married to fashion designer Misha Nonoo, who is longtime pals with Meghan Markle.
Dashing: Friday was her first public sighting since she announced her engagement to art dealer Alexander Gilkes – who was spotted in a car in the area the same day
Before her relationship with her current fiance Maria had a pattern of dating her fellow athletes from continental Europe.
From 2012 until 2015 she dated Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, and before that she was engaged to Lakers star Sasha Vujacic who is from Slovenia.
Her new engagement with Alexander went public about 10 months after she revealed she was giving up professional tennis.
Look of love: Maria, the only Russian and one of 10 women to get the Career Grand Slam, went public with the engagement on Thursday
‘I’m new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis – I’m saying goodbye,’ she wrote in an essay published in Vanity Fair this February.
‘But as I embark on my next chapter, I want anyone who dreams of excelling in anything to know that doubt and judgement are inevitable,’ she added.
‘You will fail hundreds of times and the world will watch you. Accept it. Trust yourself. I promise you that you will prevail,’ wrote the Soviet-born bombshell.