Jessie Pegula Gives Shout Out To Buffalo Bills, Sabres Fans at Australian Open

Jessie Pegula is getting some serious attention as she advances to the quarterfinals at the 2021 Australian Open.

The pro tennis player who calls Western New York home is often written about as "the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula."

Jessie Pegula isn't one to hide her WNY connection. After beating the fifth seeded player in the Open, she had a message for us here in Buffalo.

Pegula, who's ranked 61, signed “Go Bills” and “Go Sabres” on a TV camera lens after her victory over the No. 5 seed, Elina Svitolina.

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That made for Pegula's first career victory against a top 10-ranked player and also marked her first career appearance in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, reports the Buffalo News.

And, she credits Josh Allen as her inspiration.

She talked about the Bills quarterback following a press conference after her win:

“It’s been pretty cool to see what Josh has been able to do. Obviously, the team got better around him, but I will say even last year when he wasn’t playing that well, I was like, ‘I like this kid.’ I loved his competitive spirit.

 

He was a gamer. He just wanted to win, and that’s something you love to see, so it’s definitely something I think I tried to take into my game a little bit, even watching the team, getting that grit, that like competitive attitude.

 

Having that mindset is, in tennis, it’s like 90% sometimes, of the matches. So I think it’s been really cool to watch them and kind of channel that energy into how I’ve been doing."

Pegula will face No. 22-seeded Jennifer Brady tonight at 9 p.m. local time.

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