Jessica Pegula begins Wimbledon effort as World No 3 stands to inherit £7.6bn fortune

American Jessica Pegula finished runner-up at the US Open last year as she fell narrowly short in front of her home fans - and will now aim to turn up the heat at Wimbledon.

Pegula, the current World No 3, begins her tournament against Elisabetta Cocciaretto on Day Two of the championships as she looks to finally land a Grand Slam. She is currently the highest ranked player on tour without one to her name.

The 31-year-old from Buffalo has made the last eight or better on seven occasions at Grand Slams with her exploits at the tour's other tournaments adding up to bank her $18.3m (£13.3m) in prize money throughout her career.

That is nothing compared to what she stands to inherit however. The female star is born to Terry and Kim Pegula whose net worth, according to Forbes, is a staggering £7.6billion. That makes Terry the 418th richest man in the world and he's been more than happy to spend it.

Among his assets are the bulk of Buffalo's sporting franchises. Terry and Kim are the owners of the NFL side the Buffalo Bills and the city's NHL team the Buffalo Sabres.

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Pegula's parents, who have five children, have been present at Flushing Meadows in New York to watch their daughter on numerous occasions and were in attendance when she won arguably the biggest match of her career when she saw off Karolina Muchova to make the US Open final last year.

The Grand Slam finalist has previously hit out at the connection made between her wealth and her success, laughing off the idea that her family's riches have ensured an easy path for her.

She said previously: “Some people get this image that it’s really easy for me because my dad is very wealthy but that didn’t happen until I was 17 or 18. My dad was probably more hard on me than my mum, the more old-school one pushing me. They gave me a great childhood and instilled a lot of work ethic in me. This definitely got me to this point.”

Pegula's best effort so far at Wimbledon came in 2023 when she made the last eight before losing to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousouva. She was beaten in three sets and was unable to improve on that showing last year.

Twelve months ago she arrived as the fifth seed but was ousted in the second round as China's Zin Wang knocked her out. Pegula though arrives this year off the back of winning the Bad Homburg Open, beating Iga Swiatek in the final.