Sports
Jessica Pegula’s commitment to hard work every day has turned her into a leader
INDIAN WELLS — Jessica Pegula never needed tennis.
She simply kept showing up for it anyway, through the long and often anonymous slog of the professional tour.
Now 32 and the oldest player in the top 10, Pegula is having her best season start yet.
The fifth-ranked American reached the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in January, falling to eventual champion Elena Rybakina. She followed that by capturing the Dubai 1000-level tournament, just a rung below the majors.
She is 15-2 so far in 2026, tied with Victoria Mboko in match wins and second only to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina (17-3), who she defeated 6-2, 6-4 in the Dubai final.
Pegula is guaranteed to emerge from this week’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells as the top-ranked American, overtaking No. 4 Coco Gauff, if she reaches the final.
Jessica Pegula kisses the Dubai trophy after defeating Elina Svitolina in the finals on Feb. 21.
(Altaf Qadri / Associated Press)
First, she will have to get past No. 12-seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, her fourth-round opponent on Wednesday. Bencic has not dropped a set in four previous meetings with Pegula.
“That will be a challenge for me,” said the characteristically even-keeled Pegula after defeating former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the third round on Monday.
A late bloomer, Pegula has taken the long road.
She failed to qualify for Grand Slam main draws in 12 of 14 attempts from 2011 to 2018, and didn’t reach the third round at a major until the 2020 U.S. Open at age 26. All three of her Grand Slam semifinal runs — along with her 2024 U.S. Open final — have come after she turned 30.
Pegula said this week that her patience and persistence stem from “always being a little more mature for my age even when I was younger.”
“I think as I’ve gotten older, your perspective changes as well,” she added.
Pegula, whose parents are principal owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, acknowledges that her wealthy family background can cut two ways.
Financial security offers freedom to push through the sport’s early years on tour, when results are uncertain and the grind is relentless. That same cushion might make it easier to walk away if the climb becomes too frustrating.
Jessica Pegula plays a backhand against Donna Vekic during their match at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
(Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)
Pegula says her motivation to pursue tennis came well before her family’s fortune grew.
“I’ve been wanting to be a professional tennis player and No. 1 in the world since I was like 7,” she said in a small interview room after beating Ostapenko this week.
“It’s a privilege, but at the same time I don’t want to do myself a disservice of not taking the opportunity as well,” she explained. “I’ve always looked at it that way.”
In the last few seasons, that maturity on the court has dovetailed with a growing leadership role off it.
Pegula has served for years on the WTA Player Council and was recently tapped to chair the tour’s new Tour Architecture Council, a working group tasked with examining the increasingly demanding schedule and structural pressures players say have intensified in recent seasons. The panel is expected to explore changes that could reshape the calendar and player workload in coming years.
Pegula said she hadn’t put up her hand to be involved but agreed after several players approached her to take the lead role — though she declined to say who they were.
“I think maybe as you mature … you realize how important it is to give back to the sport,” she said last week.
Life has also provided grounding and a wider lens.
Pegula’s mother, Kim, suffered a serious cardiac arrest in 2022, a situation she discussed in detail in a moving 2023 essay for “The Players’ Tribune.”
The Buffalo native and Florida resident also married businessman Taylor Gahagen in 2021. Gahagen helps “holds down the fort” at home with the couple’s dogs and travels with her when possible. He is with her in Indian Wells.
“I have an amazing support system,” Pegula says.
Despite winning 10 WTA singles titles, achieving a career singles high of No. 3 in 2022 and the No. 1 doubles ranking, Pegula’s low-key demeanor means she flies a bit under the radar.
She’s not one for fashion statements, outlandish antics or attention-seeking initiatives, her joint podcast with close friend Madison Keys notwithstanding.
Instead, Pegula tends to go about her business quietly, relying on a calm temperament and a methodical style that wears opponents down over time.
She gets the job done — the Tim Duncan of the women’s tour.
“She’s just all about lacing them up and competing between the lines, and then trying to be as big an asset as she can to her peers off the court,” says Mark Knowles, the former doubles standout who has shared coaching duties with Mark Merklein since early 2024.
“I think one of her great attributes is she’s very level-headed,” Knowles adds. “She doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low.”
Her tennis identity echoes her steadiness.
Instead of bludgeoning opponents with power, the 5-foot-7 Pegula beats them with savvy, steadiness and tactical variety. A careful student of the game, she studies matchups and patrols the court with a composed efficiency that incrementally drains big hitters and outmaneuvers most rivals long before the final score confirms it.
Keys calls that consistency her “superpower.”
“She doesn’t lose matches that she shouldn’t lose,” the 2025 Australian Open champion said this week.
Because of injuries in the early part of her career, Knowles says Pegula might have less wear-and-tear than other players her age. And he and her team have prioritized rest and recovery, which included the decision to skip the tournament in Doha last month following her tiring Australian Open run.
On brand, there was no panic in Pegula after dropping the first set in her two matches so far at Indian Wells. As she’s done all season, she steadied herself to earn three-set wins.
Bucket-list goals remain, however. Chiefly, capturing a Grand Slam title.
Jessica Pegula returns a shot to Jelena Ostapenko during the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Monday.
(Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
Pegula jokes that she briefly interrupted a run of American female success when she fell in the 2024 U.S. Open final to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. But seeing close friend and teenage phenom Keys capture her major in Melbourne last year — after many wondered if her window had passed — hit closer to home.
“I think Madison winning Australia just motivated me even more,” Pegula says.
Although Pegula believes she is among the best hardcourt players in women’s tennis, that confidence hasn’t translated into success in the California desert. She has reached the quarterfinals just once in 10 previous appearances in Indian Wells.
“Why not try and add that one to the resume?” says Knowles, noting that she had never won the title in Dubai until last month. “She’s playing still at a very high level.”
Pegula says the key to keeping things fresh is maintaining her love of the game by continuing to improve and experiment with new ideas, a process that keeps her engaged mentally and eager to compete.
“I’m not afraid to kind of take that risk of changing and working on different things,” she says, “which just keeps my mind working and problem solving.”
For a player who never needed tennis, she remains determined to see how much more it can give her.
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It’s NBA playoff time.
Let’s take a look at the latest NBA title futures at DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 2.
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NBA Finals winner 2025-26 season
Oklahoma City Thunder: -145 (bet $10 to win $16.90 total)
San Antonio Spurs: +370 (bet $10 to win $47 total)
New York Knicks: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Cleveland Cavaliers: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Detroit Pistons: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Los Angeles Lakers: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Philadelphia 76ers: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Minnesota Timberwolves: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Here is what to know about the NBA title oddsboard:
West Update: The two teams favored to win the title both reside in the Western Conference: OKC and San Antonio. The Thunder swept the Suns in Round 1 and the Spurs gave up just a single game to Portland. Now, OKC gets L.A., which it swept in the regular season, and San Antonio gets a banged-up Minnesota, which the Spurs actually lost to in the regular-season series. A few uncertainties still exist in each series. Will Anthony Edwards be healthy enough to take the floor for the Wolves? How effective can he be? Will Luka Dončić return in time to impact the OKC-L.A. series? What about Jalen Williams returning for the Thunder? If the odds hold true — the Thunder are favored to sweep the Lakers and the Spurs are favored to sweep the Wolves — we will be staring at an OKC-San Antonio Western Conference finals.
East Update: The third, fourth and fifth teams on the title oddsboard reside in the East: New York, Cleveland and Detroit, respectively. New York was the only Eastern Conference team to make it out of the first round in fewer than seven games, as the Pistons, Cavs and 76ers needed do-or-die Game 7 wins to move on. Arguably the most impressive team of the bunch is the one closest to the bottom of the oddsboard: 7-seed Philadelphia. It overcame 2-seed Boston despite being down 3-1, winning Games 5 and 7 on the Celtics’ home floor. While Cleveland simply won four home games on its way to advancing, the top-seeded Pistons also trailed 3-1 against Orlando, before winning the final three contests of the series. New York is favored to beat Philly in five and Detroit is favored to beat Cleveland in seven.
The Lakers understand the daunting challenge they’re about to face against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.
Lakers coach JJ Redick referenced the great Chicago Bulls teams that won back-to-back championships in 1996 and ’97 and the Golden State Warriors teams that won titles in 2015 and ’17 when talking about the Thunder after practice Sunday.
“The Thunder is one of the greatest teams ever in NBA history,” Redick said. “It’s just the reality. They’re that good. I think our guys recognize that and respect that, and we know what kind of task we have in front of us.”
The Thunder had the best record in the regular season at 64-18. They were ranked first in defensive field-goal percentage (43.7%), first in defensive rating (106.5), first in net rating (43.7) and second in points given up per game (107.9).
They have the league’s reigning most valuable player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is the leading candidate to repeat as MVP. He was second in scoring this season (31.1 points per game) and leads the postseason in scoring (33.8).
The Thunder just swept the Phoenix Suns in their first-round series. The Lakers eliminated the Houston Rockets in six games.
This season the Thunder beat the Lakers by an average of 29.2 points per game in sweeping the four-game set. So the Lakers are facing long odds to win this series, but they say they aren’t intimidated heading into Game 1 on Tuesday night.
“You can respect the team but you can’t fear them,” forward Jake LaRavia said. “You can’t come into the game fearing the opponent and then you’re just gonna come in and get punked. So, we respect how good this team is, but our goal is to win — win the games and win the series. So, our mindset stays the same.”
The Thunder have a reputation as a stingy defensive team — they were called for the seventh-fewest fouls per game (19) this season.
“They’re top five in every category that’s disruptive-base: steals, blocks, turnovers forced, all that stuff. And they don’t foul,” Redick said. “They somehow do all of that without fouling, which is one of the most remarkable things, I think, in NBA history.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is famous for drawing fouls. He took nine free throws per game this season, third-most in the league.
“Nobody’s been able to stop him all season,” Redick said. “So, you can hope and pray.”
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drives against the Lakers during a Thunder win on April 2.
(Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
The Lakers had their own weapon at the free-throw line, but it’s unclear when Luka Doncic might return from injury. The All-Star point guard hasn’t played since sustaining a Grade 2 left hamstring strain against the Thunder on April 2.
Doncic was coming off a magical month, becoming the only player in history other than Michael Jordan to score 600 points in March.
Redick had no update on Doncic’s status — he remains out indefinitely.
But the Lakers got by the Rockets with LeBron James leading the way. He averaged 23.2 points, 8.3 assists and 7.2 rebounds in the six games. And star guard Austin Reaves, who also was injured in the April 2 game against the Thunder, returned to help beat the Rockets.
Still, few think the Lakers, who advanced past the first round for the first time since 2023, can get by the deep and talented Thunder.
“You could say nobody thought we were going to get past Houston, but everybody in this building believed,” Reaves said. “It’s the same mindset going into this. We obviously know the team that we’re about to face and how good they are and the problems that they can create for 48 minutes. So, we’ll have to lock in every single day, film, whatever it could be, to continue to get better and and pay attention to all the little details like they do.”
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Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, the WWE tag team known as the New Day, reportedly departed the company on Saturday as part of the latest string of releases.
Kingston and Woods became fan favorites as they formed New Day with fellow superstar Big E. But after Big E was sidelined with a serious injury, the two continued their tag team prowess in the ring. Kingston and Woods were four-time tag team champions as a duo and held the belts eight times when they were with Big E.
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Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston attend Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event at The Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on May 31, 2025. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Fightful Select and BodySlam both reported the departures of Kingston and Woods. The two were moved to the alumni section of the WWE website.
Kingston had a ton of success as a singles competitor. He captured the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 over Daniel Bryan as part of the “Kofi-Mania” era where he received a ton of fan support on his way to his first title. He was also an intercontinental champion four times and a United States champion three times.
Woods joined WWE in 2010 after stints at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Woods won the King of the Ring tournament in 2021.
Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston of the New Day celebrate their win during WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2025. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
As a tag team, the two were considered to be one of the best in WWE’s history. They captured their last titles at WrestleMania 41 and turned heel soon after that. The two lost their tag titles in June and Woods was injured during the year. Kingston formed an alliance with Grayson Waller in the interim before the departure.
Elsewhere, Tonga Loa and JC Mateo reportedly departed the company as well.
Loa first appeared in WWE in 2009 before departed in 2014. He re-appeared most recently in 2024, joining forces with Solo Sikoa and the newly formed MFT faction.
MFT’s JC Mateo, Talla Tonga, Solo Sikoa and Tonga Loa face off with Jimmy Uso during Saturday Night’s Main Event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Ga., on July 12, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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Mateo joined WWE in 2025, also backing up Sikoa in the faction. He was also a tag team champion with Tama Tonga before eventually dropping the belts to Damian Priest and R-Truth in March.
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