Jessica Pegula shows true colours with message to fellow US Open star
The world's richest tennis player, Jessica Pegula, will have her first shot at Grand Slam glory in New York on Saturday night, but still had time to send a gift to a fellow finalist
American tennis ace Jessica Pegula is in the final of the US Open, but that hasn't stopped her from looking out for her colleagues.
Pegula will go head-to-head with Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday evening, hoping to deny the Belarusian world number two her third major title and first US Open trophy. The 30-year-old, considered the world's richest tennis player due to her combined familial net worth of nearly £6billion, hasn’t let the occasion get to her, however.
When fellow ace Lyudmyla Kichenok planned her wedding, she failed to take into account making the women's doubles final at Flushing Meadows. She was forced to postpone the big day on her way to glory with court partner Jelena Ostapenko.
Billionaire heiress Pegula saw this misfortune and chose to send the Ukrainian a thoughtful gift - a bottle of champagne, as well as a touching note, congratulating the 32-year-old on her on and off-court successes.
READ MORE: Tennis billionaire can clinch tiny boost to net worth if she wins US Open finalREAD MORE: US Open star Jessica Pegula's luxurious billionaire lifestyle, NFL owner dad, net worthPegula will surely feel the love from her home crowd when she takes court during the New York showpiece, and she evidently thought to pay such support forward to Kichenok. She wrote on a note to accompany the bubbles: "I saw you were meant to get married on Wednesday! Congrats on a great tournament, and enjoy your wedding!"
Kichenok and Ostapenko bested Shuai Zhang and Kristina Mladenovic in the final in Flushing Meadows, meaning that the Ukrainian’s sacrifice was worthwhile. The debacle made for an interesting post-match interview.
When listing out all those she wished to thank for her success, Kichenok stated: "Also my boyfriend, could be husband actually. Because we were supposed to get married this Wednesday but it didn’t happen!"
Olympic medallist Mary Joe Fernandez was speaking to the 32-year-old, and replied: "What do you mean could be? It’s still on, right?" To which she was reassured: "We had actually an appointment to get married this Wednesday but just because I was playing semi-finals."
Pegula's journey to the final has been relatively hard-fought. The star, whose family owns NFL franchise Buffalo Bills and NHL side Buffalo Sabres, opened the competition with back-to-back all-American clashes. She had to best both Shelby Rogers and Sophia Kenin before her biggest challenge in the quarter-final: world number one Iga Swiatek.
The Pole was dispatched with relative ease, however. Despite losing the first set 6-1 during the semi-final clash against Czech star Karolina Muchova, she rallied to secure victory in three sets, setting up a dream date with destiny against Sabalenka.
"It’s a childhood dream," Pegula stated when asked about being in a home slam final. "It’s what I wanted when I was a kid. It’s a lot of work, a lot of hard work put in. You couldn’t even imagine how much goes into it… I’m just happy to be in a final, but obviously, I come here to want to win the title.
“You know, if you would have told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the finals of the US Open, I would have laughed so hard because that just was where my head was. So to be able to overcome all those challenges and say that I get a chance at the title Saturday is what we play for as players, let alone being able to do that in my home country here, in my home slam. It’s perfect, really.”
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