Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend, Morgan Riddle, has become as much of a staple in his box as his coaching team. The world No. 4 started dating the social media influencer in 2020, and she soon joined him on the tennis tour, turning her life as a ‘WAG’ into a fully-fledged career. Riddle gives fans an insight into life on the professional circuit and shares recommendations from the many cities the players visit while competing.
Fritz and Riddle have now given an insight into their relationship – and the restrictions that come with creating content as a tennis player. While the couple featured in Netflix’s Break Point docuseries, which ran for two seasons, Riddle has run into trouble sharing her own vlogs on the tour.
While Riddle has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, 10-time title winner Fritz isn’t as well-versed in building a personal brand online – and he says there are plenty of restrictions he faces, despite being one of the world’s best players.
“The social media part is something that causes me a good amount of stress, because I’m pretty lazy,” the former US Open finalist told GQ.
“I feel bad about not doing as well as I can on TikTok or posting stories, stuff like that. It’s tough because in order to have really good content, you have to be thinking about it a lot, and putting a good amount of time into that.
“A lot of the tournaments are saying, ‘You either have to have won a Slam or have one or two million followers to even be allowed a videographer on tour’, which I think is absurd. How are you ever going to have a million followers if you don’t have someone capturing decent content to build your brand?”
Fritz isn’t the only one limited in what he can capture while on-site. Riddle has been penalised for filming her boyfriend’s matches, and is no longer to use her vlogging camera while sitting in Fritz’s player box.
She explained: “I’ve gotten multiple copyright strikes against my account when I post videos of him. In the last three years, the tournaments and the tour have gotten really strict with where you can film and where you can’t. I’m not allowed to have a camera in the box anymore, whereas a couple of years ago, none of those rules were in place.
“The people who make those decisions are thinking one way, and I’m thinking, ‘Okay, think about the fan girls, the people who create memes’. That’s what builds a cult following in a sport. It’s frustrating, and it’s archaic.”
Fritz and Riddle did feature in Break Point, a Drive To Survive-style Netflix documentary that followed a group of players during the 2022 and 2023 tennis seasons before it was ultimately cancelled. It gave fans a glimpse into their relationship, but Riddle never expected to be on camera.
“I didn’t know they wanted to use WAGs until they showed up to the hotel room with cameras, and I happened to be there,” she said. “I do think that partners on tour have a big impact, and they’re part of the team, so it’s nice to be recognised for that.”
The 28-year-old knew barely anything about the sport herself when she matched with Fritz on celebrity dating app Raya in 2020. On their first date, Riddle made Fritz watch the horror film Midsommar.
When the tennis tour resumed following the Covid pandemic, she joined the world No. 4 on the road, and she has since made it her mission to attract new, younger fans to tennis, using her social media platforms to showcase the sport to a new target audience.
