The finalists on the ATX Open in Austin had been spared a grueling late-night journey to Indian Wells following Sunday’s motion after world No. 4 Jessica Pegula flew them to the match within the Californian desert on a non-public jet.
Pegula, whose billionaire dad and mom personal the NFL’s Buffalo Payments and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, received the singles title in Austin by defeating fellow American McCartney Kessler 7-5, 6-2. However Pegula hung round for the doubles last, the place Kessler and Zhang Shuai misplaced to Yuan Yue and Anna Blinkova.
With the gamers going through a fast turnaround forward of the Indian Wells fundamental draw starting Wednesday, Pegula supplied to fly all of them to California for the WTA 1000 match.
Zhang thanked Pegula for her generosity on Instagram, including that the gamers would in any other case have confronted a late-night layover in Los Angeles or journeys to close by airports in Dallas and Houston.
“You recognize she will be able to go away away proper after her singles last, however she is such a selfless and beneficiant woman,” Zhang wrote. “This message is NOT to indicate I took the jet, simply wished to understand and transferring the love.”
Blinkova shared Zhang’s submit on her personal Instagram story and thanked Pegula, who has amassed greater than $17 million in prize cash in her profession.
Yue additionally expressed gratitude to Pegula on social media for the luxurious journey.
“In any other case, we’d all have been on the street for at the least 9 hours,” she stated.
Reuters contributed to this report.