eBusiness Weekly
Billionaire American tennis star Jessica Pegula is looking good to claim her first Grand Slam title after sailing through to the last eight of the Australian Open.
Jessica Pegula is on course to add over £1.6million to her huge net worth after cruising through to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
Pegula is the highest-ranked player left in the competition following the surprise early exits of Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur. And she’s firmly on course to claim her first ever Grand Slam after overcoming no.20 seed Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets on Sunday.
The 28-year-old from Buffalo, New York claimed a hard-fought 7-5, 6-2 victory over her Czech opponent as she kept up her record of not having lost a set at this year’s tournament. She will now face either Victoria Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, or no.87 seed Zhu Lin from China.
Whoever she comes up against, Pegula must now fancy her chances of finally breaking her Grand Slam duck, having gone out at the quarter-final stage on three occasions last year.
Pegula will bank around £1,6million if she goes all the way in Melbourne — not that she needs it. That’s because the tennis star is the heir to her father Terry’s enormous £5.4billion fortune.
Despite her father’s enormous net worth, earned through natural gas development among other interests, Pegula has always sought to make her own way in the world of tennis.
Even her mum once questioned why she decided to put herself through the agony of professional sport, when she could choose to enjoy her family’s billions.
“I remember thinking, ‘Why would she want to keep doing this?’” Kim Pegula told ESPN of her daughter in an interview in 2021.
“There are other women whose families are relying on them through tennis but she doesn’t have that worry.
“She doesn’t have to do this and her life would be so much easier if she didn’t.”
But Pegula has stuck at it and is now reaping the rewards as the joint-favourite to win the Australian Open when the competition draws to a close next week. — dailystar.co.uk
