You’d think that retired duo Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, or evergreen legend Novak Djokovic, are the wealthiest tennis players in history.
You’d be wrong. The two richest are both active on the tour, so that rules out Serena and Venus Williams. So, who are Emma Navarro and Jessica Pegula?
Navarro, Pegula ride the wave as American tennis has a renaissance
At the start of Wimbledon this year, four American women were ranked inside the WTA’s top 10. Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff is second, Pegula is third, Australian Open champion Madison Keys is eighth and 24-year-old Navarro is tenth.
Pegula has endured rollercoaster fortnight, with a title win at Bad Homburg immediately followed by a shock first round exit at Wimbledon. This is especially surprising given 31-year-old Pegula reached last year’s US Open final and the Wimbledon quarters in 2023.
Navarro is safely through to the second round after comfortably beating two-time champion Petra Kvitov, who was playing her final Wimbledon event. Next for Navarro is a meeting with the Russian Veronika Kudermetova.
Where did Jessica Pegula’s family wealth come from?
Jessica is the daughter of Terry Pegula, whose net worth is estimated at $7.6 billion. He owns the national Hockey League (NHL) team, the Buffalo Sabres and National Football League (NFL) franchise, the Buffalo Bills.
What about Emma Navarro?
Emma Navarro’s father is Ben Navarro, founder and chief executive officer of Sherman Financial Group, one of the largest buyers of consumer debt in the United States, and the owner of Credit One Bank, a bank specializing in credit cards for borrowers with low credit scores. His net worth, in comparison to Terry Pegula’s, is a measly $4.8 billion.
What is Novak Djokvic’s net worth?
Serbian legend Novak Djokovic, gunning for an unprecedented 25th grand slam title and eighth at Wimbledon is by far the most decorated player in tennis history. He’s also collected the most on-court earnings; $188 million to be exact.
His net worth hovers around the $300 million mark and his 24 major crowns form part of a staggering total of 100 titles on the ATP tour. The 38-year-old successfully negotiated his first round match at Wimbledon with a four-set win over Alex Muller.
Next up for Novak is a match with British wild card Dan Evans.
Wimbledon Day 3 highlights
Home favourite Emma Raducanu closes out the action on centre court on Wednesday, 2 July against 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova. Interestingly, Wimbledon’s Slamtracker makes Raducanu the slight favourite with a 51% likelihood to win.
South Africa’s Lloyd Harris faces 14th-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev in the second round. They’re second on court 3, action there commmences at 12:00 CAT.
