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Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle recently claimed that if she engages in controversial acts such as drinking and smoking while attending the American's matches in the future, it would be "iconic". Riddle began dating Fritz in 2020 and eventually became a fixture not only in the ATP star's box, but also a prominent tennis and lifestyle influencer.
In a recent GQ Sports interview, the 28-year-old touched on how being in the limelight as the girlfriend of one of men's tennis' most elite players still feels "new" to her. According to Morgan Riddle, many tennis fans still don't appreciate her presence at Taylor Fritz's matches and there's very little she can do to change how they feel about her.
"It’s new for me. I have people in this sport who hate seeing me on their TV screens, and I think that will always be the case. What can you do?," Riddle said.
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Susbequently, Carrie Battan, the GQ correspondent who conducted the interview, opined that much of the hate that comes Riddle's way stems from her being blond as well as a popular influencer, and not because she drinks and smokes at Fritz's matches. Battan's suggestion led to a mischievous response from the influencer, who said she'd consider drinking and smoking at the World No. 4's matches going forward, possibly to rile her haters even more.
"That’d be iconic. I should do that," she added.
"I definitely got a lot of backlash" - Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle on facing flak from tennis community
Earlier this year, Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle featured as a guest on The Squeeze podcast. Here, the 28-year-old touched on the misogynistic sort of criticism she faces from some sections of the tennis community that believe she draws too much attention to herself, saying:
"I definitely got a lot of backlash, both from within the tennis community and the fans. 'I'm calling attention to myself,' people just expected me to, like, sit in the box, be relatively private. Like, not capitalize on my partner's career. Came in guns blazing, I was like, 'F*** that!' People make up insane things. It's just the same misogynist, regurgitated b******t again and again."
Riddle is likely to take her place in Fritz's box for the ATP star's upcoming campaign at the 2025 Paris Masters, the year's last ATP Masters 1000 tournament. The American, having received a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed, is set to begin his campaign in the French capital against Aleksandar Vukic in the second round.
