Meet Jessica Pegula, the billionaire tennis player who wowed Dubai

The world No.3 might not be as famous as Paris Hilton yet, but she is already on the way to carving a niche for herself as a global superstar

Published: Sun 26 Feb 2023, 11:50 PM

Updated: Sun 26 Feb 2023, 11:54 PM

By
Leslie Wilson Jr

American Jessica Pegula in action during her semifinal against Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova. — Reuters

Does the name Paris Hilton ring a bell?

The American celebrity is one of the world’s most well-known heiresses who has inherited the Hilton Hotel fortune.

Jessica Pegula might not be as famous as Paris yet, but she is already on the way to carving a niche for herself as a global superstar.

However, the daughter of billionaire businessman Terrence Pegula, the head of a sports empire that co-owns the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, is doing it the hard way.

The 28-year-old has chosen to make a name playing professional tennis, and she’s not doing a bad job at all.

Last week she played some delightful tennis to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship before she lost to eventual winner Barbora Krejcikova.

Soon after Pegula took to her Instagram account to show, that besides her tennis skills, she also has a sense of humour when she posted this message: Everyone: “What is it like playing on tour? It must be so amazing!”

Me: Gets bagled on your birthday, sitting eating Doritos at midnight, waiting to get on a 16 hr flight home.”

The post, which was viewed by 2.4 million followers, was accompanied by a picture of her snacking on a packet of the world-famous American brand of flavoured tortilla chips.

Despite constantly having to deal with hip and knee injuries on the tour, Pegula has defied the odds on the circuit both as a singles and doubles player where she is known to team up with fellow American rising star Coco Gauff.

During the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Pegula said that she was inspired by her sister, who was also a tennis player.

“That’s how it all started. She was my inspiration,” Pegula said.

Pegula is also a huge NFL fan and she, not surprisingly, follows the Bills. She is also an animal lover and regularly helps people with rescued pets.

For the record, although she has earned more than $7 million in prize money on the women’s circuit, Pegula stands to inherit some of the $ 4 billion fortune of her dad, who is the world’s 34th richest man according to Forbes.

Her dad also famously outbid former American President Donald Trump and rock musician Bon Jovi to win the Buffalo Bills franchise.

She is reportedly also more wealthy than Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova put together.

But for the time being, tennis is still very much her thing and with which she really hopes to build her legacy.

ALSO READ: