Jessica Pegula has shared her thoughts on receiving tough love from her father, who recognized her talents in the sport from an early age. She is currently competing at the 2025 Cincinnati Masters, where she defeated former World No. 60, Australian player Kimberly Birrell, in the round of 64.
Winner of nine ATP Tour singles titles, Pegula is a daughter of billionaire Terry Pegula (net worth of $8 billion via Celebrity Net Worth), the owner of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabres, and the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League. Her mother is a South Korean-American businesswoman, Kim Pegula.
During an appearance on the Tennis Insider Club with Caroline Garcia and Borja Duran, Jessica Pegula expressed her thoughts on receiving a strong push from her father, who played a key role in her career.
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"I mean, my dad was definitely more of the crazy one. And, he definitely put pressure on me, but also like, I like wanted it, like I liked it. Like, I didn't mind it. It wasn't like I was fighting him on it or like miserable or whatever. Like, I really wanted to play tennis." (6:15 onwards)
She continued,
"I loved going to my tennis lessons, I loved going to my academy. Like, that was what I wanted to do. And I think they just saw that and they, they knew like they could push me a little bit. So, I felt like they did a good job of that at that age."
In her next singles match at the 2025 Cincinnati Masters, Jessica Pegula will lock horns with Magda Linette.
Jessica Pegula reveals how she began her journey in tennis
During the same podcast appearance, Jessica Pegula shared how she started playing tennis, following in the footsteps of her older sibling, Kelly Pegula. She also has a brother named Matthew.
"My older sister played tennis. She played in college, in high school. I just started taking lessons after school. At our tennis club, my parents played for fun and where my older sister trained. That's really kind of how I started," she said. (1:14 onwards)
In the doubles category, Pegula and Hailey Baptiste defeated Ashlyn Krueger and Iva Jović in the round of 32 at the 2025 Cincinnati Masters. They will next face Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez in the round of 16.
