The remarkable story of Jessica Pegula, the 'richest tennis player in the world'

Jessica Pegula is one of the current stars of women's tennis. The American has worked her way to the top and has an extraordinary backstory. Read on to find out all about Pegula's life, on and off the court.

Pegula was born in Buffalo, New York, on 24 February 1994, according to WTA tennis.

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Pegula is the daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres, as per Sportskeeda. Her father, Terry, made his fortune in natural gas development and real estate, among other businesses.

Terry Pegula's net worth is estimated at $6.8 billion by Forbes, which is why his daughter Jessica is often considered "the richest tennis player" in the world.

Pegula doesn't mind being called that way. "Yeah, I mean, it is what it is… It doesn't really bother me. It would be nice if people didn't say that. But do I really care? I mean, not really. It is what is. But, yeah… I don't really think it matters how much money you have," she said at a Wimbledon press conference.

Pegula is half-Korean, as her mother was born in Seoul and adopted by an American couple at a young age. According to The Sun, she has four siblings: Kelly, Matthew, Michael and Laura.

Pegula turned pro in 2009, but would make her Grand Slam debut in 2011, when she received a wildcard into the doubles tournaments at the US Open. She reached the third round, her first major result on the biggest stage.

It would take Pegula until 2015 to make her Grand Slam singles debut, WTA Tennis recalls, when she reached the main draw of the US Open and was eliminated in the second round.

In 2018, she reached her first WTA singles final in Quebec, where she lost to Pauline Parmentier, per WTA Tennis.

She would then continue to steadily make her way up the ranking, entering the top 100 for the first time in 2019 and making her debut at the French Open and Wimbledon.

That same year, she lifted her first WTA singles trophy, beating Italy's Camila Giorgi in the Washington Open final, according to WTA Tennis.

Pegula then enjoyed a good start to 2020, reaching the final in Auckland and making her debut at the Australian Open.

At the 2020 US Open, Pegula took the next step in her singles career, reaching the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time. It would be the start of her journey to the top of women's tennis.

In 2021, she reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, her best Grand Slam result at the time, which earned her a place in the top 50.

After that, she continued to perform well and ended the year world No. 18, according to stats by WTA Tennis.

From that point on, Pegula never looked back and took the tennis world by storm. She reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals in 2022 and won her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara, Mexico, per WTA Tennis. In doubles, she even made it into the French Open final, which she lost alongside Coco Gauff.

She also featured in the WTA Finals in 2022 and ended the year world No. 3 in singles and world No. 6 in doubles, according to the rankings history of WTA Tennis.

That same year, however, Pegula and her family was rocked when her mother was hospitalized after suffering a cardiac arrest, The Sun reports.

In late 2022 and early 2023, she helped the United States win the inaugural version of the United Cup, beating world No. 1 Iga Świątek along the way.

This gave Pegula the confidence she needed for the 2023 season, in which he reached two Grand Slam quarter-finals, won the Montreal tournament and topped the world ranking in doubles, per WTA Tennis.

It's been a difficult start to the 2024 season for Pegula, however, as she was knocked out in the second round of the Australian Open by France's Clara Burel, according to WTA Tennis.

Shortly afterwards, she took a radical decision and decided to end her partnership with coach David Witt, with whom she began working in 2019, per Tennis(dot)com.

Witt wasn't expecting it. "It was a total surprise to me. Never saw it coming," he told the same medium.

Away from the tennis court, Pegula married Taylor Gahagen in 2021.

In 2016, she tried her luck in the restaurant business together with her sister Kelly, opening a quick-serve Healthy Scratch restaurant, local medium Buffalo Rising reported at the time. She then opened more locations, but stopped the adventure in May 2022 permanently.

Pegula is also in the skincare business, having launched her own line of products, Ready 24, per WTA Tennis.

"When I was growing up, for the most part, I had troubled skin," Pegula told the same medium. "I tried a million different things and didn’t always give it the time to work. Your skin freaks out because there’s too much going on."

"So I was always interested in trying to figure out what helped and what worked. Like a lot of people, I was always looking for the quick fix," she added.

Pegula has already built an excellent tennis career, but she will surely continue to strive for Grand Slam successes in the coming years. Will she make her dream come true?

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