Jessica Pegula Shares Dream

Jessica Pegula is skilled in the art of point construction.

When her playing days are done, the world No. 3 dreams of building something even bigger.

Pegula, whose parents Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula, are the owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, said she’d like to own and operate a tennis tournament after her tennis career is over.

Speaking to the media in Miami after she defeated 20th-seeded Magda Linette 6-1, 7-5 to power into the Miami Open quarterfinals, Pegula shared her plan. Since the start of 2020, Pegula has reached 12 WTA 1000 quarterfinals—most of any woman in that span.

“I would love to have one there [in Buffalo],” Pegula told the media in Miami today. “I don’t know where because Buffalo isn’t really a tennis haven. But maybe one day. I think that’s always been something I’ve thought about, even after my career, is having a tournament.

“I think that would be really fun. I don’t think my parents are really up for it, but maybe one day I will have one or try to get something going there.”

While winters in Buffalo can look like a real-life snow globe come to life, the city does have a tennis tradition.

Former world No. 5 Jimmy Arias is a Buffalo native who was inducted into the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame the same year as legendary NBA star Bob McAdoo, a devoted tennis fan and tennis parent who was roaming the Miami Open grounds earlier this week.

Pegula said she hopes to one day bring a tournament to western New York. Novak Djokovic’s family previously owned and operated an ATP event in Belgrade and we’ve seen several former stars become tournament directors after their playing days ended, including James Blake (Miami), Richard Krajicek (Rotterdam), Feliciano Lopez (Madrid) and Tommy Haas (Indian Wells). 

“I think it would be really fun also making the connection with Toronto, Montreal, obviously Toronto being right there,” Pegula said. “I know we alternate with the men, but it’s so close. I don’t think people realize how close it is. It’s like an hour-and-a-half drive.

“Yeah, that would be cool because I had a lot of fans in Toronto that were either people from Buffalo or associated with Buffalo just because of the proximity. So maybe one day.”