US Open Social Preview: Jessica Pegula

Every day this week, Baseline will preview the US Open by taking a deep dive into an American hopeful's social media story.

For much of her career, Jessica Pagula has been known primarily as the daughter of Kim and Terrence Pegula, who own the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. This season, the 25-year-old has broken through on the WTA Tour and become a force in her own right: cracking the Top 100, winning her first WTA title and earning direct entry into the US Open for the first time.

Here's how the world No. 58 has been documenting her tennis journey on social media:

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At the Citi Open, in Washington, D.C., this summer, Pegula captured her first WTA tour-level title with wins over Katerina Siniakova, Iga Swiatek, Lauren Davis and, 6-2, 6-2 in the final, Camila Giorgi. But the debatable real star of the Pegula show was her dog Maddie.

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Pegula's canines feature all over her Instagram—here they all are enjoying a day at the beach:

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They also make great brand ambassadors for Pegula's own businesses, which include a restaurant called The Healthy Scratch and a skin-care line called Ready 24.

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And it turns out having a pack of dogs isn't a bad situation for someone who goes through lots and lots of tennis balls.

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Pegula has plenty of experience playing at the US Open, having competed in qualifying six times. In 2015, she won four matches in a row before going out in the second round of the main draw to Dominika Cibulkova. Thanks to her success this year, she'll only have to win once to make Round 2.

The American opens her tournament on Tuesday, at 11 a.m., against Alize Cornet.