Maria Sharapova has been focusing on the "silver linings" of the coronavirus pandemic

The 33-year-old Russian, who won five Grand Slam singles titles during a glittering career, told PEOPLE: "When I was competing, I'd only get to spend a few weeks of the year at home, so it's been nice to have more time to relax, catch up with loved ones and focus on my businesses.

"As much as I love to travel, not having to rush off to the next tournament has been really nice."

Sharapova has spent lockdown at her home in California and admits she feels "incredibly lucky" to spend time with her parents. She also revealed that they turned to cooking to keep occupied during the pandemic.

She said: "We've been spending almost all of our time in the kitchen - cooking meals and baking treats, and at one point, we even pulled out an ice cream machine, which I hadn't even taken out of the box for years.

"We even started growing our own garden out back - so you know things are getting serious!"

Maria - who has invested in tech wellness company Therabody - says that she has "hit balls with my friends a few times just for fun" since retiring from tennis and is now trying to find other ways to exercise.

She explained: "Mainly I've been trying to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible - either doing a boxing workout on the beach or hiking some of the trails nearby."