Three American women have sealed their places in the round of 16 at the Australian Open, including 27-year-old Jessica Pegula.
Pegula’s family will not only watch her crucial match this weekend. His parents, Terry and Kim Pegula, own the Buffalo Bills, who will face the Chiefs on Sunday night in an AFC divisional round playoff game.
After Pegula won her third-round match against Spain’s Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, she wrote “Bills you’re next” on camera.
Pegula is also rooting for the Bills from Melbourne, Australia, wearing red and blue in her tournament attire.
The Pegulas took over from the Bills in October 2014, paying $1.4 billion. Terry Pegula previously purchased the NHL’s Buffalo Sabers in February 2011.
His daughter is trying to reach the quarterfinals in Melbourne for the second year in a row. She fell to Jennifer Brady in that round last year in what remains her only Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance.
Pegula, who is ranked 21st in the latest WTA rankings, will face fifth seed Maria Sakkari on Saturday. Sakkari reached the semifinals at the French Open and the US Open last year. He has never made it past the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Sakkari will be a difficult obstacle for Pegula to overcome. They have met twice in their career, with the Greek star emerging victorious both times. Just last month, the two met in the Miami Masters round of 16, with Sakkari winning 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(6).
It will also be a tough matchup for the Bills when they take on the second-seeded Chiefs. The Bills lost to Kansas City in last year’s AFC championship game, so revenge is on their mind even after beating the Chiefs in a regular-season matchup in October. The Bills beat the Patriots in a historic game last weekend, becoming the only team in NFL history to go the entire game without a punt, kick a field goal or fumble.
The time of Pegula’s match has yet to be determined, as the rest of the third-round matches wrap up Friday night through Saturday morning ET. However, their match may take place in the middle of the night for hometown fans as Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of Buffalo.