Jessica Pegula’s father Terry Pegula is known for keeping a low profile in today’s social world, making sporadic appearances in front of the people. Despite his daughter being one of the top-ranked American tennis players, he barely ever visits the stadiums to watch her matches in person. So whenever he goes public, the entire world watches.
This happened just a week ago, when Pegula held a press conference following the Buffalo Bills’ loss against the Denver Broncos and the subsequent firing of their coach, where he talked about his private life.
Jessica Pegula’s Father Terry Explains Why He Was Not Able to Attend Her Matches
Just days after losing to the Denver Broncos, the Buffalo Bills management fired their head coach, Sean McDermott, after being unable to produce compelling results for the team. Although their performance was improving, Bills never managed to reach the Super Bowl since his appointment back in January 2017. This marked the end of a nine-year partnership between McDermott and the Bills, and Terry himself held a press conference to address the future of his franchise.
It was an unexpected move, as he is not known for making grand appearances in front of the public, let alone organizing conferences. The reporters pressed him on why he had been avoiding the media for so long. Answering their questions, Pegula said,
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“Well, a long duration of why I wasn’t in front of the media was Kim’s health situation – very traumatic. But don’t take my lack of appearance, it was all personal.”
Pegula was referring to his wife, Kim Pegula’s sudden cardiac arrest back in June 2022, on the day of her 53rd birthday. She was asleep in Florida, and Terry found out that she was unresponsive due to the prolonged oxygen deprivation, which even led to brain damage. The lack of oxygen led to significant expressive aphasia and many other problems, making it difficult for Terry to make public appearances.
When another reporter followed up on this question, asking if he is going to be accessible to the public in the future or not, Pegula pointed out a sad reality involving his daughter, tennis player Jessica Pegula.
“I can’t even go watch my daughter play tennis. She’s got to No. 3 in the world, and I’ve been to like two of her matches in the last four years,” the multi-billionaire said, expressing grief over not being able to watch his daughter succeed.
“I think that’s a possibility in the future. We have issues in the family, but I can see me being more available in the future,” Terry concluded, ensuring that he will try and be more available in the future.
Just months after her mother’s cardiac arrest, Jessica reached her career’s best World No. 3 ranking on October 24, 2022, after making deep runs at multiple tournaments.
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Terry was present at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2024 when Jessica reached the US Open final. She dropped just one set in the lead-up, against Karolína Muchová in the semifinals, and lost to the second seed, Aryna Sabalenka, 5-7, 5-7 in the finals. It was her first time advancing past the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam after posting a 0-6 record.
Notably, he and Kim were present at last year’s US Open, watching their daughter take on the world’s best players. In a tweet, Jessica revealed that her mother had been at the stadium for her round of 16 and quarterfinal matches. She reached the semifinals at the USTA Center but again lost to Sabalenka, ending her hopes of reaching the finals in front of her mother.
Jessica is in another semifinal at the 2026 Australian Open, where she is set to face the 2025 WTA Finals champion Elena Rybakina, with the Kazakh champion having a slight edge over the American.