Tennis star Taylor Fritz is set to take on reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semi final and his influencer girlfriend Morgan Riddle will be supporting him every step of the way
Taylor Fritz will be taking on the world number two, Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon semi-finals. It will be the first time that Fritz, who is ranked fifth in the world, has made it to the semis in the UK’s grand slam, and as he takes on this major challenge, his influencer girlfriend Morgan Riddle, 27, will be right by his side.
The US tennis star got together with Morgan back in 2020 – a year after his divorce from childhood sweetheart Raquel Pedraza, who he had been with since he was a teenager.
Morgan regularly posts on social media about life following her partner on the ATP tour, and the former model has amassed a sizeable fan base of her own: boasting 600,000 followers on TikTok and amassing a whopping 22.3 million likes on her content.
Whilst all eyes will be on centre court to see if Taylor, 28, can defeat the reigning Wimbledon champ, who knocked out Cameron Norrie – the Brits’ great hope in the tournament – there is almost as much interest in the player’s life off-court, the Mirror takes a look back at the tennis star’s love life.
Ex-wife Raquel Pedraza
Taylor fell in love with his tennis player childhood sweetheart Raquel Pedraza when he was in his teens. The two players bonded over their mutual passion for the sport, and he has credited his ex with playing a huge role in supporting his career.
The tennis player proposed to Raquel – reportedly in front of the Eiffel Tower – and they tied the knot when he was just 18 years old, and she was 17 back in 2016.
A year later, in January 2017, they welcomed their son Jordan, who is now eight years old, and shortly afterwards, in 2017, Taylor opened up in a post-tournament press conference about how his wife had “stepped up” with their new baby to enable him to focus on his career.
In 2014, Raquel had got as high as 86 in the WTA rankings, no mean feat for a youngster, but due to injuries she dropped to 148 a year later – and after having Jordan she decided to retire from the tour altogether.
“My life hasn’t really changed too much because of how my wife has stepped up,” Taylor explained, “She’s really just doing everything she can for me and my tennis.”
In 2019, the pair parted ways, when Jordan was just two years old, and Raquel stays out of the spotlight for the most part, focussing on her son.
In the tennis documentary Break Point for Netflix, Taylor opened up about not getting to spend as much time with his son as he would prefer due to the gruelling demands of life as a professional tennis player.
“I have a son that I don’t get to see near as much as I’d like,” he explained, “As it stands right now, I just have to try and see him as much as I possibly can.”
He has also recently explained that there are factors “preventing” him from bringing his son on tour with him – and has previously admitted because he doesn’t get to be with Jordan all the time, he does occasionally “spoil” the little boy.
In a seriously sweet moment discussing the semi-final, Taylor admitted he wanted to win the Grand Slam to “really impress” Jordan who, he revealed, isn’t often that impressed.
“I don’t know,” if reaching the semis, “would be enough to impress him, I hope so,” Taylor joked, adding, “Every time I tell him that I won a title or played really well it’s like …. he doesn’t react too much….hopefully one day I can do something that truly impresses him”.
Girlfriend Morgan Riddle
Taylor and Morgan got together five years ago in 2020, after matching on the dating app of choice for celebs, Raya. Influencer and former model Morgan has admitted she knew next to nothing about tennis before they fell in love – a far cry from his fellow-professional player ex – but since she has found a niche for herself on social media creating content about life following the ATP as a tennis WAG.
She reportedly gave up her full time corporate job to travel with her partner the year after they got together, and the content she makes about being a tennis girlfriend has gained her a wealth of fans – and she hopes helped introduce the sport to a younger American audience, who may not have been as engaged with it before.
Morgan revealed to People magazine that Taylor is totally in agreement that tennis needs to work a little bit harder to reach the next generation of fans, explaining: “I think that he appreciates that we both have this collective goal of bringing it to a younger crowd. He does his part of it, and I do mine. I remember when him and I first met within the first week or two, one of the things that he told me is I just want tennis to be cooler in our generation. It’s just not.”
When Morgan faced a little bit of backlash for a TikTok she posted about making “tennis cool again” Taylor jumped straight in to defend her, saying in 2022: “I don’t understand how anyone can get upset about it. I’m the one that’s a professional tennis player, I’m the one that does this for a living. I 100 percent agree with everything in that video”.
Taylor has credited the rise in his ranking since their relationship began to Morgan noting previously there is an “obvious correlation”.
He said in one interview, “There’s been a pretty constant, I guess, results and ranking rise since we’ve been together. I think I would have to say she’s been a big help to me just kind of keeping me focused, having someone who cares and just pushes you to just do better and do the right things, be healthier.
“Almost like kind of just mother me in a way with, like, the diet and going to sleep on time. But just having someone to push you in the right direction all the time, supporting you, it helps a lot.”
However, he quickly tried to backtrack after referring to her as motherly, saying it was the best “choice” of term.
Morgan is never afraid to speak her mind – whether that’s discussing women’s rights, tennis fashion, or the relative coolness level of racquet sports – and last year it landed her in a bit of hot water.
After her boyfriend defeated Alexander Zverev who has faced allegations of abuse from former partners – something he denies – Morgan posted a thinly veiled dig at the German tennis star.
