World's richest tennis player records rare 'double bagel' win at Italian Open

Jessica Pegula, who is seen as the ‘world’s richest tennis player', achieved an incredible feat in the Italian Open as she managed to record a rare ‘double bagel’ to progress to the fourth round.

The 32-year-old is reportedly worth around $13 million, which isn't even close to some of the biggest names in the sport, including Roger Federer or Serena Williams, let alone the two combined, as her family has a net worth of over $7.5 billion (£5.5 m), making them far wealthier than any tennis player.

Pegula will be hopeful that she can add to this wealth with the prize winnings from the Italian Open now that she has edged a step closer to the title with this victory in the third round over Rebeka Masarova.

It only took the American an hour to beat the Swiss star, as she made easy work of the world No. 160 in the Italian Open and in the process achieved the rare feat of a double bagel.

A double bagel in tennis occurs when a player wins a match in two sets with a score of 6-0, 6-0, symbolising that the opponent won zero games in both sets.

Jessica Pegula at the US Open (Credit:Getty)

After the No. 5 seed bagelled Sonmez in her first match at the Italian Open, Pegula said: “I haven't played since I lost in Madrid. I feel like sometimes with a lot of time going by, practising a lot, I stayed over here, didn't go home; I think you're a little on edge where your game is at going into a competitive match, playing against someone who already won a round or something like that. Yeah, always tricky.

“But thought I played really solid. Nothing crazy. Had kind of a tough first set and then played some good tennis in the second. Was doing everything pretty well. So just happy I was able to kind of handle maybe the first-match nerves pretty well today.”

This is the furthest the American has made it in the Italian Open singles draw since she got to the quarter-finals on her tournament debut in 2021. Pegula will now face Anastasia Potapova for a place in the last eight.