American tennis player Jessica Pegula found herself at odds with a British newspaper this week following her loss in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Pegula, who is also the daughter of Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula, was the focus of an article in The Times after her three-set defeat at the hands of unranked Markéta Vondroušová on Tuesday. The story was titled “Six quarter-finals, six defeats: Jessica Pegula needs dynamic that family billions can’t buy,” and seemingly called into question the 29-year-old’s drive to compete for major titles because of her status as the child of NFL owners.
“She is surrounded by luxury, but no grand-slam trophies,” the story reads in part. “Which begs the question of what drives her. Is it possible to be hungry for victory if defeat is not overly meaningful in terms of wealth?”
Pegula seemed to come across part of the article on social media and, needless to say, was not pleased. With a riff on the story’s headline, she fired back.
“I’ll tell you what I won’t buy is this [trash] article,” Pegula wrote on Twitter.
I’ll tell you what I won’t buy is this 🗑️ article 🤣 https://t.co/EzOWqqtcQm
— Jessie Pegula (@JPegula) July 14, 2023
Pegula, who entered as the No. 4 seed in the Wimbledon draw, has carved out a successful career for herself in tennis, but has yet to breakthrough in a Grand Slam. Though she boasts two career singles titles and seven doubles titles, the American has never made it past the quarterfinals in a major, despite reaching that round six times in the last three years.
“I have no idea,” she said Tuesday when asked if there was something specific she needed to do to reach her first-ever semifinal at a Grand Slam event. “I don’t know. I was one game away today almost. I don’t really know what the answer is. I keep putting myself in good positions, but I guess it’s not enough.”
Pegula will have just one more chance this year to get over the hump when she takes the court at the U.S. Open in August.
