BILLIONAIRE WIMBLEDON STAR BANKS ANOTHER £93K PAYDAY AND BAGELS OPPONENT IN 49-MINUTE WIN
American tennis star Jessica Pegula defeated compatriot Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-0 in just 49 minutes to bank another £93,000, adding to her already enormous net worth at Wimbledon, winning with a bagel in the process.
The tone was perhaps already set when Pegula won the toss and let Krueger choose which side she wanted to serve from. And Pegula broke the 20-year-old in the very first set, asserting her dominance as she bids to go further than her sole quarter-final berth 12 months ago, aware that the draw has opened up considerably following the withdrawals of Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka.
A second break in as many attempts for Pegula had the 30-year-old in the driving seat, taking just seven minutes to amass a lead that already looked unassailable.
Krueger, the world No. 75, had strapping on her left knee as she looked to make it out of the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. Pegula was in no mood for mercy, however, against her doubles partner.
Down 4-0 and needing to hold serve to avoid a likely bagel in her opening Wimbledon set, Kruger was roared on by the No.2 court crowd, and bounced back from a nervous unforced error immediately with two powerful aces to get on the scoreboard.
Pegula, whose father Terry boasts a net worth estimated at £5.5billion as the owner of NFL side Buffalo Sabres and, with his wife Kim Pegula, NFL franchise Buffalo Bills, wrapped up the remainder of the first set in just 26 minutes.
The second set began just as the first set, with Pegula immediately breaking Krueger and giving her an uphill battle. That lead was swiftly doubled with a string of impressive forehands, and then increased to 3-0 despite Krueger successfully challenging a line call.
One of the most striking facets of Pegula's game is her serve return. Her opponents, Krueger the latest, struggle to get any foothold when serving and gives Pegula a strong chance of breaking them.
A drizzle of rain sparked worry among the outside courts, but with potentially just three games left in the tie, Pegula and Krueger had a brief chat next to the umpire before deciding to play on.
And Pegula, who was all business as she duly despatched her fellow American, made a very firm statement to the rest of the top half of the draw that she is a force to be reckoned with at SW19 this year.
The final two sets were comfortable and the latter came via a bagel to cap off her dominant performance, before Pegula received a standing ovation in front of the delighted Wimbledon crowd.
"I know Ash and she has a big game, my goal was to build a big as lead as possible to fall back on," Pegula explained in her on-court interview. "You never know with Wimbledon, I think it's important to play every point no matter what."
When asked how much of an impact winning in Berlin for her first grass title helped coming into the game, Pegula added: "It's taught me to have confidence, winning a title on grass, having that patience. I think it helped a lot."
Reaching the second round rewards players with a £93k cash prize and should Pegula defeat either Xinyu Wang or Viktoriya Tomova in her next SW19 affair, that jaw-dropping figure rises to £143k.
2024-07-02T11:02:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd