Jessica Pegula recently wore a stunning black dress while hosting the inaugural gala for her charity, ‘A Lending Paw.’ The event garnered various reactions from players like Jennifer Brady, Kim Clijsters, Shelby Rogers, and others, not only for her evening look but also for the funds raised and the charitable work being done.
Pegula, a dog-lover, has three dogs of her own: Maddie, Des, and Lemmy. Along with her husband, Taylor Gahagen, she founded ‘A Lending Paw,’ which is dedicated to helping rescue dogs find new homes.
Jessica Pegula’s Friends React to the Dress She Wore at Her Charity Gala for Rescue Dogs
According to the official website of ‘A Lending Paw,’ the charity focuses on raising funds to support organizations that rescue and rehabilitate dogs, train them as service animals, and place them with individuals in need.
Interestingly, Pegula, in collaboration with her sponsor Gorjana, a jewelry brand she joined in 2023, launched a special collection called the Paw Collection. A percentage of the sales from this collection is donated to ‘A Lending Paw.’
Recently, Pegula took to social media and shared a series of pictures from the charity gala, flaunting her gorgeous backless black dress paired with minimalistic jewelry. In her post, she announced that ‘A Lending Paw’ successfully hosted its first-ever charity gala to raise money for service dogs and rescues.
“So proud of our first ever @alendingpawcharity charity gala to help raise money for service dogs and rescues. We were able to have 2 service dogs we trained through K9 for Warriors (+ more), local rescues available for adoption from Buffalo Cares, and support from WNY Heroes who is training the current Buffalo Sabres mascot,” Pegula captioned her Instagram post.
The former World No. 3 also expressed her gratitude to everyone who helped organize the gala, as well as to her family and friends for their support at the event.
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Reacting to the pictures from the gala, and the work Pegula highlighted that the event has done, drew reactions from players such as Jennifer Brady, Kim Clijsters, Shelby Rogers, Donna Vekić, and Caroline Dolehide, among others.
“👏 👏 👏 amazing,” Vekić commented.
“Glowing! ✨ The luckiest pups 🥰,” Rogers wrote.
“Congrats! ❤️ 🐾,” Giuliana Olmos commented.
“Congrats!!! Lucky pups 🥹,” Asia Muhammad wrote.
“❤️ amazing Jess !” Clijsters commented.
“The best evening for an amazing cause! ❤️ ✨,” Alexa Guarachi wrote.
“Wow. Gorrgggg,” Brady commented.
“YES, Jess 👏🏼,” Dolehide wrote.
On the tennis side of things, Pegula concluded her 2025 season with three titles, winning the ATX Open, Charleston Open, and Bad Homburg Open. She also had runner-up finishes at the Adelaide International, Miami Open, and Wuhan Open.
Pegula To Begin 2026 Season at Adelaide International
Looking ahead, Pegula is set to begin her 2026 season by competing in the Adelaide International, which will take place from January 12 to January 17, 2026. The matches of the WTA 500 hard court tournament will be held at the Memorial Drive Tennis Centre in Adelaide, South Australia.
In addition to the former World No. 3, players such as defending champion Madison Keys, Clara Tauson, Paula Badosa, and Belinda Bencic, among others, will also compete in Adelaide in 2026.
This year, Pegula, who was the top seed, defeated lucky loser Maria Sakkari, Ashlyn Krueger, and Yulia Putintseva to advance to the final, where she finished as the runner-up to Keys.