World's richest tennis star's billionaire dad broke personal rule ahead of US Open clash

Sometimes tennis can be as stressful for the players' parents as it is for those holding the racket themselves. That certainly appears to be the case for Jessica Pegula's billionaire father Terry.

As well as being the world No. 4's old man, he's known as the owner of NFL heavyweights the Buffalo Bills and NHL side the Buffalo Sabres. The entrepreneur, who has a reported net worth of around £5.63billion, has previously admitted he doesn't usually watch his daughter compete, as he "gets too nervous." But at the US Open last year, the 74-year-old broke his own personal rule so he could watch his daughter's 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Karolina Muchova. His attendance proved to be a brief talking point for those who are well aware of his personal rule.

During Pegula's triumph over Muchova in the last four, Jon Scott, sports director of WGRZ, revealed Terry's preference when it came to watching his daughter compete. Scott took to X and said: "Terry Pegula shown watching daughter Jessie in US Open semi-final. He's said in the past he gets too nervous to watch her in person."

While Terry has often opted to not watch her play, he still had a huge amount of confidence she would become one of the finest players on the planet. Scott also tweeted: "I had a conversation many years ago with Terry Pegula about Jessie's tennis career.

"At that point injuries had really slowed her. Terry adamantly told me his daughter could beat anyone in the world when healthy. She's headed to 1st grand slam final Saturday."

Pegula faced Aryna Sabalenka in the final in New York last year but couldn't get the better of the Belarusian. She pushed the world No. 1 all the way, but Sabalenka triumphed 7-5, 7-5, leaving Pegula devastated.

She will certainly be hoping for better luck this year when she returns to Flushing Meadows. But before she embarks on her singles campaign, she will be competing in the Grand Slam's mixed doubles tournament alongside British No. 1 Jack Draper.

The revamped event, which carries a top prize of £740,000, looks set to be an exciting prelude to the Grand Slam, which begins on August 24. Initially, she was going to be playing with fellow American Tommy Paul, while Draper was going to pair up with Paula Badosa.

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However, Paul and Badosa each pulled out of the competition, resulting in Draper and Pegula linking up instead. They face a hard first-round test as they will be competing against Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu.

Raducanu and Alcaraz were both given wildcards into the event, as were Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic, Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton, and Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka.