Three American athletes caused a sensation at the US Open. Taylor Fritz fought bravely against the Italian Jannik Sinner, who ultimately won in three sets. Jessica Pegula only lost in the final of the Grand Slam tournament to the powerful Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. And Emma Navarro sent America’s tennis hopeful Coco Gauff home early.
Fritz, Pegula and Navarro not only have in common that they were more successful than experts expected. The successors to Serena Williams, who grew up with four siblings and parents in a two-bedroom bungalow in the poor and rough Compton, are also all children of billionaires or multimillionaires.
Lots of money in the families
Fritz is a descendant of the May family, which grew up with department stores in the USA. In 2005, the retail empire was sold for 11 billion dollars to Federated Department Stores, which merged the stores with the Macy’s department store chain. Fritz’s parents were both professional tennis players. Taylor Fritz grew up in the wealthy Rancho Santa Fe district of San Diego, in a 650 square meter villa with a tennis court in the garden. His father and uncle trained him until he turned professional.
Jessica Pegula’s father owns the Buffalo Bills football team and the Buffalo Sabres hockey team, and according to the relevant statistics, has a fortune of seven billion dollars, most of which he acquired in the oil and gas industry during the fracking boom. “The most annoying thing is that people think I have a butler,” Pegula once said. “And that I’m chauffeured around, that I have a private limousine and fly everywhere in my private jet. I’m definitely not like that.”
Emma Navarro’s father Ben Navarro is estimated to be worth $1.5 billion, which he earned after a career at major banks by founding the financial services provider Sherman Financial Group. In her youth, Emma attended the exclusive private girls’ school Ashley Hall in Charleston, which is known for its tennis program. Tuition there is currently $28,000 a year).
Alternative ways to the top
The development is not entirely surprising. Tennis has always had the reputation of being the sport of high-earning families who could afford memberships in exclusive country clubs with their well-kept courts and their trainers. But the Williams sisters, Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe, who is also currently playing well, are showing alternative paths to the top.
The business models behind these careers, however, were increasingly risky. The Williams family left Compton, California, which was characterized by poverty and crime, and moved to West Palm Beach, Florida, near the then-famous tennis academy of coach Rick Macci, betting entirely on the sisters making a breakthrough. Macci financed the family in phases and was later compensated.
Coco Gauff’s parents also gave up their jobs to promote their daughter’s career. Patrick Mouratoglouformer coach of Serena Williamstrained her at his tennis academy in France. His Champs’Seed Foundation financed her training. The foundation supports talents who cannot afford high-performance training.
The greatest contrast to the career paths of the wealthy offspring is the life of Frances Tiafoe, who made it to the semi-finals of the US Open. His father fled from Sierra Leone to the USA and found jobs in construction and as a janitor in the exclusive Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) in College Park in the state of MarylandDuring the week he lived in a small apartment on the property with his sons Frances and Franklin. The boys started playing tennis at the age of four. Later, their father was able to arrange training with well-known coaches without having to pay the traditional fee.
