After her title run in Mexico, Pegula was asked about her mother, Kim, who was hospitalized earlier this year with an undisclosed illness, and also the Bills—the consensus Super Bowl favorite, and a subject frequently seen in Jessica’s social media.
“My mom always kind of joked I was the first sports team as far as helping me with my tennis career growing up,” said Pegula. “I definitely wanted to dedicate it to her. She’s had a really tough year. I know she was watching. I’m sure she appreciated that. Usually she gets very nervous watching, so it’s special she got to watch me all week. That’s really cool. I’m sure she was still very nervous.
“As far as the Bills, yeah, I hope they win the Super Bowl. We’re very heavy favorites. That would be amazing. I’d be in Australia if that happens. Hopefully if they’re doing well, I’m still in the Australian Open, and that would be pretty cool.”
As a diehard Bills fan myself, I often wonder if Jessica is tired of hearing about the football team in her life every time she plays. She loves them, of course, but might she also not want to talk about them at every tennis stop?
We may never know—but, again, let’s stick to tennis here. As nicknames go, “.jpeg” is a good one for the top-ranked American, but I think “The Franchise” is even better.