Even while sitting at the World No. 3 spot of the WTA rankings, Jessica Pegula is well-known as one of the wealthiest heirs in sports. As the daughter of billionaires Terry and Kim Pegula, her family’s empire includes ownership of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Now, her billionaire background has become the perfect punchline for her fellow American and former doubles partner, Coco Gauff.
Coco Gauff Wants to Switch Places With Jessica Pegula ‘For Financial Reasons,’ Pegula Hilariously Responds
During a recent segment by WTA, Gauff was asked a lighthearted, hypothetical question in Gauff’s way: “If you could switch places with any player for a week, who would it be?”
Gauff, known for her sense of humor, knew exactly who to pick. “I would switch places with Jess Pegula, um… for… financial reasons,” Gauff replied.
The video clip posted by WTA quickly grabbed fans’ attention. Inevitably, the clip found its way to Pegula’s feed. Taking a break from her own Canadian Open preparations, Pegula jumped into the comment section to fire back at her friend.
“You wanna switch places with big mama?” she joked, matching Gauff’s energy. She added, “I was gonna scroll then saw my name in the caption 😂”
I didn’t think this could get funnier 😭 https://t.co/Q4OOyFKr2J pic.twitter.com/xp44CfHLD0
— K🪼🐆🧡🌟🌸 #5inNewYork (@Bluestarrrss) August 8, 2026
Jokes aside, Gauff is actually a multi-millionaire in her own right, having ranked as the No. 1 highest-paid female athlete for the second consecutive year by Forbes’ 2025 list. With titles at Roland Garros in 2025 and Wuhan, the World No. 4 earned around $8 million on the court.
But most of her earnings came from endorsement deals with New Balance, Bose, Rolex, Mercedes-Benz, and more that totaled $25 million, which is the most off-court income by any female athlete on the rankings.
Closely behind Gauff on the 2025 rankings was Aryna Sabalenka with $30 million. Interestingly, Pegula was on No. 10 in that list. However, being the heir of an NFL franchise-owning family is different.
Right now, Gauff’s primary focus is surviving the hard courts in Canada and adding another trophy to her resume. The two-time Grand Slam winner defeated Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the Round of 16, where she will take on 19-year-old Alina Korneeva.
Meanwhile, Pegula, a two-time champion (2023 and 2024) at the National Bank Open, also booked her place in the fourth round after defeating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-0. She will face Diana Shnaider in the next round.
