Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. HOME News Politics Royal Showbiz & TV Sport Comment Finance Travel Life & Style Football Tennis F1 Boxing UFC Cricket Rugby Golf Racing NFL NBA Other Jessica Pegula may be the richest tennis player in the world on paper – but the Team USA star won’t receive much for achieving gold at the Olympic Games. 09: 57, Wed, Jul 31, 2024 | UPDATED: 09: 59, Wed, Jul 31, 2024
Pegula will only earn $37,500 for gold at the Olympics (Image: Getty)
While Jessica Pegula is one of the world’s richest tennis stars, she’ll only earn a meagre amount for grasping gold at the Olympics this summer. The 30-year-old is representing Team USA at this year’s Parisian Games, with hopes of achieving a first-place podium finish alongside fellow star Coco Gauff in the women’s doubles.
While Pegula will have had her sights set on being a high achiever in the single’s game, she was ultimately knocked out of the contest by Evina Svitolina in the second round. Pegula made light work of Viktorija Golubic in her opener on Sunday, winning 6-3, 6-4.
But Ukrainian Svitolina would prove too hot to handle in the next game, besting Pegula 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. The talent hopes to have more success on the shared clay courts in Paris this summer, teaming up with 2023 US Open winner Gauff to compete for Olympic glory.
Pegula is the heiress to a £5.3billion fortune thanks to her father – Terry Pegula – who owns the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise. While she has earned more than £9million in prize money in her own career, she’s set to inherit a whopping fortune from her 73-year-old dad.
Gauff and Pegula were off to a flying start in the doubles at the Olympics this year, beating Australian duo Daria Saville and Ellen Perez 6-3, 6-1 in their opener on Saturday. And they’ll face stiff competition from Czech athletes Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova on the courts on Wednesday in the second round.
If successful in her endeavours, it is reported that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee will pay her £29,000 ($37,500) for winning gold at this year’s games – a drop in the ocean compared to what she is set to inherit in the future. Alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Pegula clinched a fifth-place finish at the 2021 Games in Tokyo, Japan, after being knocked out by Brazilians Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani in the quarter-finals.
Pegula represents Team USA (Image: Getty)
The Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova ultimately won gold at the games, while Switzerland finished with a silver and Brazil clinched bronze. It comes after Pegula struggled at this summer’s Wimbledon tournament despite a promising start.
She would beat Lauren Davis in her opener at the turn of July, before making light work of Cristina Bucsa, Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Lesia Tsurenko. However, a tight 4-2, 6-2, 4-6 quarter-final match with Marketa Vondrousova would ultimately see her bow out of the tournament – leaving the courts of SW19 still searching for her first Grand Slam.
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