Jessica Pegula wins opening matches at Olympics

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Jessica Pegula won her first career Olympic singles match after she and doubles partner Coco Gauff opened the 2024 Paris Games with a victory.

Pegula, the No. 5 seed born in Buffalo, defeated Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic, a silver medalist in doubles at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, 6-3, 6-4 at Roland Garros on Sunday. She will next face 2021 bronze medalist Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the second round.

The top-seeded doubles team of Pegula and Gauff beat Australia’s Ellen Perez and Daria Saville 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday. No. 2 seed Gauff won her singles opener 6-3, 6-0 against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic as part of a 4-0 start for American singles players.

The daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula lost her opening match as an unseeded player in her Olympics debut in 2021 against eventual gold medalist Belinda Bencic.

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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here .