Last September, then 19-year-old Coco Gauff took home her first US Open title. And now, American tennis fans have another star to rally behind: Jessica Pegula.
If you haven’t been watching the tournament, allow us to fill you in: Ranked sixth in the world, Pegula has been dominating the court. On Wednesday she pulled off a major upset by defeating world number one Iga Świątek, then followed it up with another impressive win against Karolína Muchová in the semifinals. This Saturday, the 30-year-old standout will be competing in the women’s singles finals against Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka for a chance to clinch a Grand Slam title.
If you’re a major tennis fan, perhaps you’re already familiar with Pegula’s (pretty impressive) game. But if you’re just now tuning in—or want to learn more about her ahead of this weekend’s big match—here are a bunch of key (and fun) facts about the American powerhouse.
1. This is Pegula’s first Grand Slam final.
Before this week, Pegula had only reached the quarterfinal round of a Grand Slam tournament six times: three at the Australian Open, once at the French Open, once at Wimbledon, and once at the 2022 US Open. So this marks her first appearance at a major final.
“I was happy I was able to turn this match around on such a big stage and figure it out,” Pegula said in an on-court interview after winning the semifinal Thursday night. “[Aryna]’s gonna be obviously tough to beat, but that’s what the finals are for. So I’m ready.”
2. Her breakthrough came only three years ago.
While a lot of top players—like Sabalenka and Gauff—climbed the rankings in their teens or early 20s, Pegula’s rise has been a bit more gradual. She cracked the world top 50 for the first time at 27 years old in 2021 after a standout performance at the Australian Open, where she defeated big-name competitors including Victoria Azarenka, Samantha Stosur, and Elina Svitolina. Since then, Pegula has continued to rack up wins at major tournaments, like the 2023 and 2024 Canadian Opens, to get to where she is today.
The playful look is as much about confidence as it is about style.
3. Her doubles partner is none other than Coco Gauff.
Since teaming up in 2021, Pegula and Gauff have claimed five doubles titles together, including at the 2023 Miami Open. Their incredible teamwork didn’t stop there: Later that year, they went on to become the world’s number one doubles team, marking the first all-American duo to achieve this milestone since 2012. (Gauff and Pegula were also the only regular doubles team to rank in the top 10 individually, according to the WTA.)
While the two agreed to put their doubles streak on hold to focus on their singles careers, Pegula only has praise for her teammate. “[Coco] is much more sure of herself, and knows what she wants,” Pegula told reporters in August. “Also, she is hitting that age where you are learning all that stuff. You are trying to figure out what you want, how you want it, making more of your own decisions, and we have seen that over the past year.”
4. Tennis brought Pegula closer to her Korean roots.
If you’re not already aware, Pegula is half Korean—an important aspect of her identity that she takes great pride in.
“I don’t know a lot of my heritage,” Pegula admitted in 2023. (Her mother, born in Seoul, was abandoned by her birth parents and adopted by an American family at age 5.) However, Pegula’s first trip to Korea (for the 2019 Hana Bank Korea Open) allowed her to “realize the importance of [her] heritage,” she said.
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"Even though I didn’t exactly grow up fully Korean, it’s something that now I think me and my family and my sister have also wanted to learn more about,” Pegula explained. “We realize how important it is for those that come over here and those that are in Asia, they see us in these different lights representing them when there’s not a lot of us.” This wake-up call, she said, inspired her to join the Asian American Pacific Islander Tennis Association as a founding member of the board of directors.
5. Pegula’s dad owns the Buffalo Bills.
You might’ve seen some talk about Pegula and the Buffalo Bills on your social media feeds. That’s because, yes, her father (Terrence Pegula) owns both the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, according to Forbes.
Even though her parents became billionaires later in life, she’s seemingly managed to stay grounded, even debunking “outrageous” rumors about being spoiled. “People think I have a butler, that I get chauffeured around, I have a private limo, that I fly private everywhere. I’m definitely not like that,” Pegula told reporters on Monday when asked about the scrutiny surrounding her upbringing. (In fact, the New York native took the subway to Flushing Meadows, just like most spectators.) “I’m definitely not like that.”
6. Off the court, Pegula is dedicated to rescuing dogs and making a difference.
Speaking of humility…Pegula is all about giving back to a good cause. She and her husband (who are both proud dog owners) run a charity together called A Lending Paw, which is dedicated to rescuing pups and training them to become service animals.
“We wanted to help people afford service dogs,” Pegula shared with Vogue on Friday. “Not only is it about dogs helping people, it’s about people helping dogs, because we only work with rescues. It goes both ways.”
7. She was trained by Venus Williams’s former coach.
For about five years Pegula was coached by David Witt, best known as Venus Williams’s longtime coach and hitting partner. (He and Williams worked together for 11 years, during which Williams reached two Grand Slam finals.)
While Pegula achieved many milestones with Witt (including breaking into the top 75), she announced in February that they would be parting ways: “David and I obviously had a lot of success, and what we were able to accomplish together was pretty amazing,” she explained at Indian Wells in March. “But I think having started with him when I was maybe 25, and then being 30 this year, I think I’m just in a much different place—a different ranking, a different place personally and career-wise…I just felt like I needed to take some chances…I just didn’t want to look back and be like, ‘Maybe I should have tried someone else, or tried something different.’”
Now Pegula is working with Mark Knowles, former world number one doubles player who also coached Jack Sock, as well as University of Florida coach Mark Merklein.
Stars are once again flocking to Queens to sip Honey Deuces and cheer for their tennis faves.
8. At one point, Pegula considered stepping away from tennis due to a series of injuries.
Even though Pegula’s on fire now, her journey hasn’t always been so smooth. A few injuries threw a wrench in her career and kept her off the tour for over a year, including a knee injury and hip surgery in 2016, which she told reporters was “the hardest to come back from.”
“I didn’t even know if I wanted to come back,” Pegula admitted back in 2021. “This was just going to be so hard…but I think I just got over it. I was like, Whatever, I’m just going to fight through it again.” (And thank goodness she did—because now she’s in the MF-ing US Open finals!)
Related:
- But Seriously, How Does Tennis Scoring Actually Work?
- These Star Athletes Love Watching the US Open as Much as We Do
- The Best Tennis Kits We’ve Seen at the US Open So Far
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