“hi mom，hi dad，see you next rd jen b。 ”
After beating the tournament's No. 5 seed Irina Svitolina, American Jessica Pegula wrote this sentence on camera footage.
She greeted her mother Kim Pegula and father Terrence Pegula, who was far away in New York State, and said hello to her fellow friend Jennifer Brady, who would meet in the Australian Open women's singles quarterfinals.
The match was held at noon local time in Melbourne.
WTA-ranked 61st Pegula came to the fourth round of the Australian Open women's singles as a "dark horse" to challenge Svitolina, the winner of the 2018 WTA Year-end Finals and the 2019 Wimbledon and US Open women's singles finalists.
At rod laver stadium, Pegula continued her "magical journey". She beat the No. 5 seed 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, and reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career against the world's top 10.
Affected by the covid-19 epidemic, this week's Australian Open continues to be held empty, which means that American girls have not been able to enjoy applause and applause in their highlight moments. But among those in the United States and around the world who follow tennis and the Australian Open, her story is spreading.
Not just her story, but her last name.
Jessica Pegula was born in Buffalo, New York on February 24, 1994 (many would call it "Buffalo"), and she will celebrate her 27th birthday next week. She is likely to remain in Australia or travel to Europe to celebrate her birthday in training and competitions. When she was a child, her parents would throw a big birthday party for her at home, and she would appear like a princess in a cartoon.
If measured by value and fame, then Pergula is indeed a "princess".
Her father studied mathematics in college and later switched to petroleum engineering. After graduating, he joined Getty Oil, where he made his fortune in hydraulic fracturing technology and sold most of his oil and gas company assets to Shell in the same field, earning a huge $4.7 billion in revenue.
He then began building his own sports empire, including the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL Buffalo Sabre, which cost $1.4 billion and $189 million, respectively.
Nicknamed "Terry" by fans, Terrance and his wife, Kim, co-own and run the team. In addition, the Pegura family has a wide range of catering, entertainment, real estate and other aspects, ranking above the "Forbes Global Billionaires List" for many years.
However, Pegura did not stop struggling because of her family lineage. She loves rugby and is as active in philanthropy as any other "celebrity", but tennis has always been her favorite. To this end, she trained for more than 5 hours a day, and even after many injuries, she was bent on returning to the court, rather than turning around and hiding in her golden "castle".
In 2009, Pegula played her first WTA match of her career at Pontevedra Beach, where she lost that qualifying match. She spent the next two years on the ITF Tour, and it wasn't until 2013 that she made her third round on the tour for the first time. She played her first Grand Slam regular tournament at the Billy Jane King National Tennis Center in 2016, leaving the first round.
In 2019, Pegula, who had been in the profession for 10 years, finally opened the door to a new world. She won the Washington Open final against Giorgi, competed in the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open three Grand Slam tournaments, and broke into the WTA World Top 100 for the first time.
In 2021, Pegura started her new season in Dubai. She lost to Svitolina 4-6, 3-6 in the first round of women's singles.
She then beat Mladenovic and Bassel in the Yarra Valley Classic at the Melbourne Sunshine Series, and was reversed by 2020 Australian Open women's singles champion Kenning in the third round with a score of 7-5, 5-6, 2-6.
"You know, when you've been in the sport for so long, you're going to have a wonderful feeling one day." These games gave her confidence and made her suddenly enlightened when she began to play tennis at the age of 7.
Also at Melbourne Park, she beat two-time champion Azarenka at the 2021 Australian Open, 2009 US Open champions Stosur and Mladenovic and Svitolina at the beginning of the season, each with a high enough gold content.
The increase in self-confidence is one of the reasons Pegura was able to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, which her coach David Witte affirmed, having coached Venus Williams.
"Being able to play against more high-level players and see the hope of winning from the competition is the key to Jessica's progress. Before the start of this year's Australian Open, her record against the world's top 10 was 0-6, but each time she was one step closer to winning, and this accumulation meant a lot to her. ”
Confidence comes from game to game, from closer to each other, and it's Jessica Pegula's own accumulation.
Although the parents of the rich and invincible countries can buy her the most expensive equipment and the best course, every professional player, including her, has come out on her own, every minute and every second of the effort counts, and every win or loss will become the cornerstone of forward.
Of course, as the owner of the most famous surname in "Buffalo", although she was not involved in the family's business operations, she was able to feel the attention and pressure of ubiquity at the beginning of her career. A lot of times, she has a hard time coping with that situation psychologically.
But now Pegula no longer deliberately avoids the advantages that her family brings to her, whether it is wealth or fame, she can deal with it with a calm attitude.
She and her boyfriend have a charity project that they want to be able to work hard to help those in need. She keeps an eye on the two teams her parents own in her spare time, and the first week of this year's Australian Open coincided with the NFL "Super Bowl," and she changed her training schedule to watch the game.
"Because Rob Gronnkowski of the Tampa Bay Pirates is a good friend of my boyfriend's. And I love rugby too, and the sport and the people who do it often give me a lot of touch and inspiration. I remember the first time I saw Josh Allen playing, he was a very good player, driven, not convinced, and always full of fighting spirit. ”
Josh Allen is the Buffalo Bills' star quarterback, born on May 21, 1996, who has been seen as the next superstar and even a potential legend in American football.
Pegula said she especially enjoys watching him play, not only because he represents his own team, but more importantly, she can learn a lot from him.
"And, paying attention to rugby is also one of the ways I get along with my family. When I was a child, I probably avoided talking about things like family background, and always wanted to break through the sky with my own ability. But now I have learned how to maintain independence instead of forcibly severing my relationship with my family. Because no matter where I go or what I do, my name is Jessica Pegula, and that last name doesn't change. ”
Of course, unlike the other Peguras in the family, she wants to be "the Pegura who plays tennis."
"Tennis is my career, my job, my whole career on this court."