Former Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova is among the best of her generation. In an era dominated by the Williams sisters, she made a name of her own. The former world number 1 is among the rare group of female tennis players who have won all four Grand Slam titles at least once.

Sharapova represented her country Russia and currently resides in the US. However, there’s an interesting fact about her parents and ancestral home that many of us were not aware of. Here’s what she revealed.

Maria Sharapova’s parents had to relocate because of the Chernobyl Disaster

In a recent podcast, Sharapova spoke about her family and childhood. She also revealed how the incident at Chernobyl affected her family. “So my parents were living in Belarus. My mother was pregnant with me just around the time when Chernobyl hit, and because of Chernobyl, because of how close we were to the radiation, my parents fled to Russia in the same year and thats where I was born,” she said.

Maria Sharapova Dons a Vintage Pink Floyd Tee Ahead of Binance Week in Paris

Later, in Russia, Sharapova developed an interest in tennis. Since the area she lived in had no infrastructure and facility for tennis coaching, she moved to the US. It was here she met Serena and Venus Williams‘ coach Rick Macci and started working on her game.

Maria Sharapova on becoming a mother

Sharapova and her fiance Alexander Gilkes recently welcomed their first child. The couple named their newborn son ‘Theodore’. As a tennis player, Sharapova had a career full of challenges. Although the Russian has braved everything that came her way, motherhood is completely new to her.

Raising a child is an altogether different task, especially for new parents. However, the 35-year-old is enjoying her time being a mother. Further, the former world number one also claimed the role of a mother to be her “biggest and fulfilling role.”

After her retirement, Sharapova has kept herself busy with her business engagements. She also owns a candy brand by the name ‘Sugerpova.’ It is always hard to manage professional commitments with parenthood, but the way she is dealing with the new role, it seems like the former world no.1 is excelling in this phase of her life as well.