You don’t have to be a tennis superfan to be familiar with pro player Taylor Fritz and his girlfriend Morgan Riddle. Currently ranked #9 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals, Taylor and his place in the sport have been taking the world by storm because he’s so freakin’ good. Like, this guy rose to fame after defeating Rafael Nadal at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters-kinda good. And off the court, Taylor’s girlfriend Morgan Riddle shows us everything else that goes on once the cameras stop rolling and the games are over. Over the past few years, the influencer has given fans an inside look at the life of a tennis pro and has amassed tons of followers on social media, earning her partnerships with brands and even the opportunity to serve as the host for Wimbledon’s lifestyle and fashion series—but more on that in a bit! Here’s what you should know about Morgan, starting off with the fact that….
She’s an influencer
Morgan has a really impressive number of followers on both TikTok and Instagram, and she’s known for her fashion, beauty, and travel ~content~. Because she jets around the world with Taylor, she’s also able to give tennis super-fans an inside look at the world of competitive tennis and make it more relatable to younger audiences.
In one of her most viral TikToks (which has sadly since been deleted), Morgan opened up about being “on a personal mission to make tennis cool again.” “I know tennis is relatively uncool and unknown in America,” she began before breaking down the fundamentals of the sport, including what an annual tennis schedule looks like, how rankings work, and what her experience attending tournaments is like.
Though the video received tons of praise from people who appreciated Morgan wanting to further popularize the sport, it also got some backlash, which Taylor commented on during a press conference at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters tournament.
“I think what she did was awesome for our sport. It got a ton of people looking at it,” he said. “I think you get your typical older fan who may be upset about it. 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,” he added.
The professional athlete also commented on his girlfriend’s TikTok, writing, “For anyone disagreeing with the fact it’s ‘relatively uncool in USA’ let me know how often tennis is talked abt on sportscenter or espn 🤷🏻♂️.”
‘Kay, Taylor is looking like a frontrunner for Boyfriend of the Year at this point, so step it up @ men! Morgan is from Minnesota
Yep, even though she travels the world and has called New York City her home for most of her adult life, Morgan actually spent her childhood in Minnesota and discussed her Midwestern roots during an episode of the Hold On to Your Racket podcast.
“I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I’m from the Midwest originally,” she told co-hosts Josefina Gurevich and Shravya Pant. “My dream was always to go to New York,” she added. Morgan explained that while tennis plays a huge role in her life now, that wasn’t always the case. “I grew up with hockey, my whole family is a hockey family…not a soul from Minnesota plays tennis,” she joked, adding that she was never really interested in sports for the majority of her life: “I personally was more into theater and speech and debate, not athletic at all.”
She attended Wagner College
According to her LinkedIn profile, Morgan graduated from Wagner College in New York City in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature. During her time there, she def kept busy as the president of the student alumni association and the public relations chair for the Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Oh, and she also completed eight (!) internships, according to that same Hold On to Your Racket podcast. Casual! After graduating, Morgan became a real estate agent for the brokerage Compass for nine months until she pivoted to social media and influencer marketing and worked at companies like Food Network, Love Your Melon, and MuteSix. These days, she’s on the other side of the business and is mainly an influencer and model.
Morgan and Taylor have been together for 3+ years
At least, that’s what our FBI-level investigative skills (we just went on Instagram) are telling us based on an anniversary post Taylor uploaded in which he celebrated being with Morgan for two years. The caption read, “2 years has flown by with @moorrgs ❤️ I love you and I can’t wait for all the fun times still ahead for us 🎉Thank you for all the love and support always…we really make an amazing team ❤️.” I’m not crying, you are!
…And she had no knowledge of tennis at the time
Like, according to an interview with ATPTour.com, Morgan “didn’t know a thing. Literally not a thing. I knew who Federer was. I didn’t even know who Nadal was. That’s not a joke.” But dw! In the past three years, she’s made up for it by immersing herself in the sport and regularly attending games. And dating a professional tennis player also helps too, lol. “I literally didn’t know anything about it. But I know a lot now. I would consider myself a tennis expert at this point, I really would,” she added. It’s clear the tennis world is starting to notice! In July 2023, Morgan announced she’ll be serving as the host for Wimbledon’s lifestyle and fashion series “Wimbledon Threads,” roughly a year and a half after her tennis videos began going viral on TikTok.
“A year and a half ago, I posted a silly little tiktok of me picking out an outfit for a tennis match,” she began on Instagram. “Today, I’m mic’ed up and on court as the host for the official @wimbledon lifestyle and fashion series, Wimbledon Threads. 🎾 Catch me on broadcast + Wimbledon channels over the next 2 weeks.”
Morgan and Taylor met on a dating app
According to Morgan, she and Taylor had a v modern meet-cute after matching on the dating app Raya. “Which is mortifying,” she joked on a TikTok in which she answered the frequently asked Q, adding that she doesn’t know how likely she was to recommend the members-only platform to friends. However, if you or a loved one (but let’s be honest, you) are in search of a professional tennis player, you’re in luck! Morgan confirmed that practically “every tennis player who is single is on there,” so do with that info what you will. 👀
She and Taylor are on a new show together
Turns out, the couple makes an appearance on Breaking Point, a series about the world of competitive tennis. In 2022, Morgan herself confirmed the news that a Netflix crew had been filming her and Taylor for the show in a since-deleted TikTok and gave viewers tons of behind-the-scenes moments from the filming process. She also spoke about the entire experience during her interview on the Hold On to Your Racket podcast.
“It’s impossible to know if the show will have the same success as Formula 1 did, but I hope it does…that would just be unreal for the sport. I think everyone was iffy about it at first, but now the whole tour has warmed up to it,” she mused. “The [Netflix] crew is always around all the time and it’s been exciting to have them around. I hope that it reaches the level of popularity that the other show did. It would do really big things for the sport.” In a trailer for the show that was released in January 2023, Taylor and Morgan are featured speaking with each other in a sneak peek for the episode that follows their journey—namely, the professional athlete’s time at Indian Wells, where he defeated Rafael Nadal to win the title. You can officially watch the series now, so definitely make sure to tune in and see Taylor and Morgan in action! WATCH NOW
Assistant news editor Gretty Garcia is the assistant news editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers all things news, entertainment, and pop culture. Before joining Cosmo, Gretty was a social strategist for Mrs. Dow Jones and a features and special projects editor at Editorialist.…