Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula’s friendship runs deep enough that they can needle each other in public without either side flinching. A recent WTA segment put that to the test, and Gauff’s answer turned into an unintentional lesson in just how differently wealthy Pegula’s family really is.

Asked which player she would want to switch places with for a week, Gauff didn’t hesitate.

“I have a funny one. I would switch places with Jessica Pegula for financial reasons,” she told the WTA. Pegula caught wind of it fast.

“I was gonna scroll then saw my name in the captions,” she wrote in reply to the clip, before adding a second comment that leaned into the joke rather than away from it.

“You wanna switch places with big mama?” Pegula added.

All of these bits make sense because it’s rooted in something real. Though Pegula has built a genuinely successful career on her own, sitting at No. 3 in the world, the fortune Gauff was actually joking about comes from her father Terry Pegula.

Terry made most of his money back in the 1980s when he founded East Resources, a natural gas drilling company. The organization made big profits thanks to the discovery of natural gas. Terry sold a bulk of his assets in 2010 to Royal Dutch Shell for approximately $4.7 billion, as well as to American Energy Partners, LP for $1.75 billion.

He used this money to buy the Buffalo Sabres, the Buffalo Bills, the NLL’s Buffalo Bandits, and the AHL’s Rochester Americans. In 2025, Terry was reported to have an estimated net worth of $7.7 billion by Forbes, ranking him the 373rd-richest man in the world.

Jessica has never leaned on that money to build her own career. She and Gauff have been doubles partners on and off for years, reaching the No. 1 world ranking together and winning multiple titles as a pair, most recently reuniting for the Berlin Open in June.

This is the only time that the two have teamed up so far this year. They have mostly focused on singles competition this year. After not playing doubles at Wimbledon, both of them made their return to the draw at the National Bank Open. Pegula teamed up with McCartney Kessler, but they were eliminated in the first round by Sara Errani and Nicole Melichar-Martinez 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 in the first round.

On the other hand, Gauff formed a pair with Caty McNally, and the two defeated Gabriela Dabrowski and Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-3, 11-9. They are scheduled to take on Katerina Siniakova and Zhang Shuai in the next round.

While Pegula may have suffered an early elimination in doubles, she has started strong in the singles draw just like Gauff. The two have reached the Round of 16 and appear to be major contenders for the title.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula start strong at the National Bank Open

Gauff has racked up two straight-set victories in the tournament so far and has been pretty convincing with her performances. She first defeated Kayla Day 6-2, 7-5 in the opening round and followed that up with another dominant 6-1, 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari.

The 22-year-old is set to take on Alina Korneeva in the third round. Though this will be their first-ever meeting on the Tour, Gauff is the clear favorite to win the match due to a major ranking difference and better form.

On the other hand, Pegula has also performed very well in singles. She started with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Magdalena Frech and followed that up with a one-sided 6-4, 6-0 triumph against Kamilla Rakhimova.

Pegula will lock horns against Diana Shnaider in the Round of 16. The American will be the favorite to win this clash as she has a commanding 4-0 lead in the H2H record. Moreover, she has already defeated Shnaider twice this season and will be aiming to make it five wins in a row in Toronto.