Not even the Australian Open could provide some solace for the Bills after a crushing weekend.
Jessica Pegula, the daughter of Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula, had put together a strong run at the Australian Open before meeting top-seeded Ashleigh Barty in the quarterfinals on Tuesday and getting trounced 6-2, 6-0.
The 27-year-old Pegula, the No. 21 seed in the Grand Slam event, had upset No. 5 Maria Sakkari in the fourth round on Saturday while sporting Bills colors. And after her third-round win on Thursday, she had tried to channel her success into a win for her parents’ franchise – writing “Bills you’re next” on the on-court camera.
Both Pegula and the Bills have since been sent home from their respective tournaments.
Buffalo is still trying to recover from Sunday’s AFC divisional round game in which the Bills lost a heartbreaker to the Chiefs, 42-36 in overtime. They took the 36-33 lead with 13 seconds left in regulation before allowing a 49-yard field goal as time expired and then losing the coin toss in OT and letting the Chiefs march down the field for a touchdown.
Pegula, meanwhile, saw her Australian Open run end at the hands of Barty, who will face another American, Madison Keys, in the semifinals.
“You feel pretty helpless [playing against Barty],” Pegula told reporters after the match. “I think that when she gets into a rhythm, she can kind of run away where she really starts – her game just kind of picks you apart a little bit, and it can be really frustrating because you don’t feel like you can get a lot of free points, there’s really not much you can do.”
