Jessica Pegula Breaks Thru, Must Decide What She Wants Most

August 19, 2019,

What gift do you give to a person, from the outside looking in, who seems to have everything, and if they don’t, could get it very quickly?

Not an easy decision.

Ascending tennis star Jessica Pegula seems to have everything.

She’s the daughter of Buffalo Bills’ owner Terry Pegula who is a natural gas tycoon as well.

Jessica is also the daughter of Kim Pegula whose resume includes being the President of Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which is the holding company that manages the Bills as well as the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League, Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, HarborCenter and Black River Entertainment, an independent record label based in Nashville, Tennessee.

It’s hard to say all of that resume without taking at least two breaths.

When you have parents with those qualifications, you probably could ask for virtually anything you want in a material way.

No doubt what Jessica wants is something that her parents cannot give her and she has to earn it herself.

At some point, isn’t that what all of us want? To make our own way.

In Jessica’s case, what might she want? For starters, perhaps whenever some media outlet brings her name up, not to preface it with the daughter of the Buffalo Bills owners.

We all want to make a name for ourselves by accomplishing something unique and powerful.

In the tennis world she finally did.

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

As reported at the Washington Post, on August 4, 2019, at 25 years old, Jessica won her first WTA singles title, arguably the biggest win of her professional tennis career, by beating Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-2, 6-2 at the Citi Open.

The 62nd-ranked Giorgi was hoping for her third title.

When you view Jessica’s tennis career, that actually is a very big deal. Twenty five is very young for many traditional careers but not tennis.

Our aspiring star made her Grand Slam singles debut at the 2015 US Open as a qualifier. She defeated Shuko Aoyama, Margarita Gasparyan and then American sensation Melanie Oudin to reach the main draw where she beat Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round. In the second, Pegula was defeated by Dominika Cibulkova 5–7, 7–5, 6–3.

As of this August 16, 2019 writing, Jessica is ranked number 56 in the world. That is an all-time high. She truly is ascending. When you look at her professional tennis history, which began in 2009, it is intriguing that it took her ten years to crack the top 100.

In 2012 she rose to 147, only to see her rankings keep sliding until she was lodged at 632 in 2017.

Injuries have played a role in that but all professional tennis players have injuries and they seem to fight through them and when their window opens, make their move anyway.

For a long time, Jessica seemed not to.

Recently Jessica began working with David Witt, Venus Williams’ former coach. Now that could make a very big difference.

She’s expressed that he helped her realize to compete for every single point and not really take off any points or games for that matter. She needs to keep that mindset all of the time.

But will she be able to?

For emphasis, will Jessica be able to keep her mind on every point in general and tennis in particular?

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, ITF photo credit

Why do we ask?

Jessica is also involved in owning and running an eatery that focuses on making healthy food choices.

Can she really do both?

Her business, co-owned by her sister is called, The Healthy Scratch. The buzz is that it is a health-focused cafe serving juices, toasts, sandwiches & more in a compact, modern space.

The store is doing so well that they opened a second one to some nice fanfare.

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, thehealthyscratch.com-photo via The Buffalo News

On March 5, 2018 at roswellpark.org they report, “With the opening today of a second location of The Healthy Scratch, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center patients, visitors and employees have a new option for clean eating — and for foods and juices that may help to keep cancer at bay. Officials from the cancer center and the restaurant were joined by a cancer survivor as they cut the ribbon today on a new grab-and-go Healthy Scratch café within Roswell Park’s Scott Bieler Clinical Sciences Center.”

Good news indeed. A great cause.

Jessica and her sister talk about their company’s unique story at their website thehealthyscratch.com, “Following the launch of our own clothing lines under the ‘One Buffalo’ brand, we have been searching for more ways to contribute to the growth of the city of Buffalo. Watching our parents develop businesses from scratch has inspired us to begin and develop this venture of our own.

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, thehealthyscratch.com- photo credit (Mark Mulville/The Buffalo News)

A big part of The Healthy Scratch is showcasing the quality and benefits of healthy and clean eating. We believe that what you eat helps your mind and body, thus making you feel better inside and out. Traveling to so many places has helped us gain a greater understanding of the benefits of tasty, healthy food and beverages from around the world. We want to share these with our customers in creative ways that clearly communicate the health benefits of each menu.

Another thing we are focused on is catering to customers on-the-go. We strive to be the leading provider of quick, healthy food and beverage options with quality ingredients that our customers know they can trust. We offer a healthy dine-in or take-out experience for our customers.”

The names alone of some of their juices ignite the imagination. Listen to some of the names on the menu:

LOVING LIFE $8.00
Grape, Lemon, Kale, Red Apple, Tart Cherry

HANG ME OUT TO DRY $8.00
Celery, Pear, Green Apple, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Activated Charcoal

KEEP THE DOCTOR AWAY $8.00
Pineapple, Apple, Ginger, Turmeric, Cayenne

BRING ME BACK $8.00
Beet, Orange, Ginger, Cucumber, Lemon, Coconut Water

STARTING TODAY $8.00
Green Apple, Cherry, Cucumber, Ginger, Kale, Lemon, Spinach, Parsley

FLUSH + GO $8.00
Kale, Parsley, Carrot, Pineapple, Green Apple, Mint, Lemon

GET LIT $8.00
Pineapple, Cucumber, Kale, Jalapeno, Spinach, Matcha

MAKE ME YOUNG $8.00
Blueberry, Blackberry, Strawberry, Lemon, Red Apple

BOSS DOG $7.75
Pineapple, Banana, Apple Juice

HIGH KEY $7.75
Cold Brew Coffee, Banana, Chia Seeds, Cacao Powder, Almond Milk

COMING IN HOT $7.75
Granola, Cinnamon, Cacao Nibs, Banana, Almond Milk

YOU’RE OUT $7.75
Tart Cherry, Banana, Strawberry, Cacao Nibs, Almond Milk

EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT $7.75
Peanut Butter, Banana, Strawberry, Almond Milk, Apple Juice

YOU’RE IN $7.75
Pitaya, Banana, Mango, Apple Juice

LOW KEY $7.75
Kale, Spinach, Banana, Almond Milk, Rolled Oats, Pineapple

CAN’T BE SURE $7.75
Spinach, Pineapple, Avocado, Mango, Apple Juice

And orange juice, which is creatively called, well, orange juice. Sometimes simple is best.

For Jessica, continuing to win is a simple and hopefully not elusive pathway on her tennis menu.

Simple is often best, but not easy.

Speaking of simple, Jessica likes to keep skincare simple. Skincare products dedicated to simplifying beauty.

That’s her motto with her new skincare line, Ready 24.

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, thehealthyscratch.com-Twitter-photo.jpg

Is she ready for that too? Twenty four seven?

We’re loving everything that we are hearing except for the fact that she is a professional tennis player who seems to have finally made her big breakthrough.

Finally at 25.

We can understand taking off a weekend to do endorsements, but run two businesses too?

Now if she was a Reality TV star, like one of the Kardashian sisters, we could understand that.

But a professional tennis player who has to grind it out to get those WTA points? Traveling from city to city, tournament to tournament and hope that you can keep pace.

Can Jessica really do that and successfully run two 24-7 businesses?

Time waits for no one. Especially in the elite sports world.

It will be tasty and juicy to see how this all plays out for Jessica and for someone who seems to have everything that she could possibly want, her ability to focus on her tennis while her window is open has to be something that she wants very badly.