Jessica Pegula, the worlds’ richest tennis player

Jessica Pegula of the U.S., global ranking 21, has won a total of 2.81 million U.S. dollars as prize money since becoming a professional player in 2009, which is the 202nd largest in Women’s Tennis Association tour history. Serena Williams of the U.S., global ranking 59, has won 94.51 million dollars, which is 33.5 times higher than the prize money won by Pegula.

The richest player in the world of tennis, however, is Pegula. She is even richer than Roger Federer of Switzerland, global ranking 17. Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported that Pegula would receive 895,000 Australian dollars if she enters the semi-finals, but that she really needs is not the money.

This is because Pegula was born into a rich family. Forbes estimated that the family’s net worth of business, which spans natural gas, real estate, sports, and entertainment, amounts to 5 billion dollars. AAP reported that the family’s net worth exceeds that of Fiji’s economy. 　

Pegula is also of Korean descent, as her mother (Kim Pegula) is Korean. Kim was born in Seoul in 1969 but abandoned and adopted to the U.S. in 1974. Jessica Pegula introduced herself as “half Korean” in the 2019 Korea Open held in Seoul.


Kyu-In Hwang kini@donga.com