At the Indian Wells Masters, Jessica Pegula wants to add to her huge fortune, which is already enough to buy Manchester United and then some.
Pegula, who is 29 years old, is richer than tennis players like Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. Her dad Terry, who made billions from oil and gas, is a big reason why she has a fortune of £5.5billion.
This amount is more than what the Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jaber Al Thani and Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reportedly offered for United, which was £4.5 billion.
The current owners, the Glazer family, who are very unpopular, have been hemming and hawing about whether or not to sell the club. They could also get more money to stay in charge.
Even though Pegula is the third seed and could easily beat the Red Devils, she is only thinking about winning her third WTA title in California this week.
She is now in the 16th round of the women’s singles tournament at Indian Wells. So far, she has beaten Italian lingerie model Camila Giorgi and Russian player Anastasia Potapova.
Petra Kvitova, the Czech world No. 15 and two-time Wimbledon winner, stands in her way of making it to the quarter-finals later today (March 14).
Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia beat Pegula and fellow American Coco Gauff 6-4, 4-6, 12-10 in the doubles bracket yesterday.
She maintains a largely private life away from the court, but Gauff gave an insight into what she’s like outside of the sport when speaking to Tennis Up To Date this week.
“I think Jess is one of the best people out there, especially considering where she comes from,” said Gauff. “Not that you should, but she could just tell everyone, ‘F off,’ which you shouldn’t.
“She is like one of the nicest people ever. Someone is older than me, she is. She puts up with all my tricks when I try to say something. In a way, she does act like my older sister on tour.
