• Faith: Christian
• Career: Athlete
• Birthday:  February 24, 1994

Jessica Pegula is an American professional tennis player who has become one of the top-ranked women in the sport. Known for her consistent baseline game, clean ball striking, and steady temperament, Pegula has reached the top three in singles and has been World No. 1 in doubles while representing the United States in international competition.

Pegula was born on Feb. 24, 1994, in Buffalo, New York, to Terry and Kim Pegula. Her parents are prominent business owners, best known as the owners of the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres. Her father built his fortune in the oil and natural gas industry before expanding into professional sports. Her mother was born in Seoul, South Korea, adopted by an American family and raised in New York.

Pegula grew up with four siblings: Michael, Matthew, Laura and Kelly. Despite her family's wealth, she pursued a career in professional tennis through years of training and lower-level tournaments before establishing herself on the WTA Tour. She was introduced to tennis by her family at age seven and has cited former World No. 1 Martina Hingis as her childhood tennis idol.

Pegula turned professional in 2009, but injuries repeatedly interrupted the early stages of her career. A knee injury required surgery in 2014, while hip surgery in 2017 caused another extended absence. Her breakthrough came later than many of her contemporaries. She won her first WTA singles title at the Washington Open in 2019 and began a steady climb through the rankings.

Her career accelerated in 2021 when she reached the Australian Open quarterfinals. Pegula subsequently became a regular in the latter stages of major tournaments, reaching six Grand Slam quarterfinals between 2021 and 2023. She captured her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara in 2022 and added another in Montreal in 2023.

Pegula made her first Grand Slam singles final at the 2024 US Open, defeating World No. 1 Iga Świątek in the quarterfinals and Karolína Muchová in the semifinals before losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the championship match. She also won the Canadian Open and Berlin titles that season. In 2025, Pegula demonstrated her versatility by winning titles on hard, clay and grass courts in Austin, Charleston and Bad Homburg.

She has also enjoyed significant doubles success, primarily alongside fellow American Coco Gauff. The pair won multiple titles together, including the 2022 Canadian Open and 2023 Miami Open, and reached the 2022 French Open final. Pegula reached World No. 1 in doubles in 2023.

Away from tennis, Pegula married Taylor Gahagen in 2021. The couple has been involved in charitable work, including A Lending Paw, an organization that helps rescue dogs. Pegula has also been open about her family's challenges following her mother Kim's cardiac arrest in 2022, which left her facing a lengthy recovery.

Jessica Pegula's Religious Beliefs

Jessica Pegula has not spoken extensively about her personal religious beliefs, but she was raised in a family with strong Christian influences on both sides.

Her mother, Kim Pegula, was raised in what she has described as a "very faith-based household." Kim's parents were deeply religious, and she and her two older brothers attended Houghton College, a Christian college in New York. Jessica's father, Terry Pegula, was raised Catholic.

Kim has said the family's religious background helped keep them grounded even as they became successful in business and professional sports. She explained that the values she learned through her family, church and Christian education became an important part of how she approached both work and family life.

Pegula herself has also acknowledged her family's religious background. During a 2025 press conference in Rome, held shortly after the death of Pope Francis and as the Catholic Church prepared to elect a new pope, she was asked about her religious upbringing. Pegula explained that her father was raised Catholic and that her mother came from a Christian background.

Although these accounts provide clear evidence that Christianity was part of Pegula's family environment, she has not publicly identified herself as a practicing Catholic or member of another Christian denomination. Unlike some professional athletes who frequently discuss their faith, Pegula generally keeps her religion out of her public identity.

Her religious beliefs are therefore best described as private, with a documented Christian upbringing and both Catholic and Protestant influences in her family. While faith clearly played an important role in the household and values in which she was raised, there is not enough public information to characterize Pegula's current religious practice more specifically.