American champion Jessica Pegula has maintained her career-high in singles ranking for almost a year. But Coco Gauff‘s dominant reign pushed Pegula one place back, and Gauff claimed her spot. The Canadian Open winner fought two battles at once in the past year. She was under constant pressure to perform better and protect her ranking while caring for her mother. Pegula’s mother, Kim, suffered a cardiac arrest in June 2022. Her sister, Kelly, was there to perform CPR while the ambulance was on its way. So, the sports family could not celebrate Pegula’s Guadalajara Open win.

But the American star and her sister emerged as a ray of hope for Kim. The Pegula sisters helped their mom explore her Asian roots, and the former doubles World No.1 shared how her mother plays an active role in sports, representing her Asian culture.

Jessica Pegula is a proud daughter of an Asian-American

The tennis icon took over eight months to pull herself together to open up about the dark phase. When she did, she poured her heart out and expressed how lucky her family was to have her mother back. The first week was a nightmare as Kim was in critical condition. But her business, Pegula’s sports and professional commitments continued nonetheless.

When Pegula advanced to the second round of the Korean Open in Seoul, she visited the orphanage her mother grew up in, and an inspiring journey unfolded. Tennis.com reported that Pegula shared her roots, saying, “A lot of people don’t know that I’m half-Korean. A lot of the stuff that my mom did, being an Asian woman in sports, is really a big deal.” Kim hails from Korea and is an adopted child.

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Kim is not a native American, but she still succeeded in running a billion-dollar business there. Pegula’s family owns an NFL team, the Buffalo Bulls, and an NHL team, the Buffalo Sabres. Her father, Terry, established the oil and gas business as his first before investing in sports. Kim is the co-owner of the Bills, while Terry is the principal owner.

The Korean Open rehashed the contributions of Kim to the realm of sports in the limelight. Pegula described her mom’s hometown as a home away from home as Seoul opened the floodgates to her mother’s childhood. But how did a Korean child end up making history as an  NFL team CEO while being the mother of a tennis champion?

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When New York met Buffalo in 1991 to create history

An American family adopted Kim when she was a five-year-old kid. She became an American citizen after the adoption and completed her graduation in 1991. The 54-year-old started working at Terry’s company in the same year. The two fell in love and got married in 1993. In 2010, the family sold their first oil and gas business.

In 2014, Kim and Terry acquired the NFL Buffalo Bills franchise after the death of Ralph Wilson. The couple reportedly competed against former US president Donald Trump and musician Jon Bon Jovi in the auction to acquire their NFL team. Several reports speculated that $1.4 billion was paid in cash to own the Buffalo Bills. Kim became the first co-owner, CEO, and president of the Buffalo Bills in NFL history.

Pegula and her sister, Kelly, encouraged their resilient mother to discover her Korean roots. So, Kim found a network of Koreans who supported her in uncovering her whereabouts. If not for the American champion, the Asian influence on the NFL would probably go unnoticed. Jessica Pegula is adept at binding her life together in unity, and she learned it through her sport, tennis.

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