Jessica Pegula’s mom is from the Republic of Korea

After a trip to the 2019 Korea Open with her family, Jessica Pegula wanted to get closer to her Asian roots. Her mother Kim was born in Seoul, where she was left by her parents outside a police station.

She was adopted and brought to Fairport, New York at five years old after staying in an orphanage.

Fast forward.

Jessica Pegula has embraced her role as an ambassador for the Asian American community. 

“Young girls will come up to me – maybe they are from Korea, or maybe they have one Asian parent like me – and their message is usually something like this: ‘We love you and your mom’,” she told buffalobills.com.