'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Taylor Fritz is defending his Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells 2023, but the player says all the attention is on his influencer girlfriend Morgan Riddle.
Fritz scored a commanding victory over Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in the fourth round of the tournament. After the match, he stopped by to converse with Prakash Amritraj and Steve Weissman of Tennis Channel to reflect on his victory and speak about his overall experience in Tennis Paradise thus far.
The American World No. 5, who has been in a relationship with Morgan Riddle since 2020, was asked about his girlfriend’s popularity with tennis fans. Fritz remarked that the social media influencer was certainly stealing the limelight, with fans turning up to get captured with her rather than the athlete himself.
“She’s walking on the grounds all the time. So, she is getting stopped quite a bit, you know,” Taylor Fritz said. “I am always in the player area, where I am just minding my own business. But she is walking on the ground. I am sure she gets stopped quite a bit.”
Morgan Riddle has been a fan favorite ever since she was first spotted cheering for the American No. 1 in his stands. She gained even more attention after declaring her mission -- “to make tennis cool again.”
In an attempt to increase the sport’s reach among younger generations in the US, Riddle has been posting TikToks and vlogs, and giving fans an insight into her travel life with her tennis-playing boyfriend.
Fritz previously commended his better half for putting in the effort and attracting younger tennis fans to the sport, after one of her videos went viral in 2022.
“It’s nice to see tennis kinda getting more attention and what she did was awesome,” he said during an Indian Wells press conference in 2022. “Everyone in the tennis community can agree that it’s good for tennis to almost sell it in a different kind of way that she would know that her audience would react to.”
Taylor Fritz sets up a clash with Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells 2023
Taylor Fritz is through to the quarterfinals of Indian Wells 2023, making it his third consecutive appearance in the final eight of the tournament. The SoCal native was a semifinalist in the Californian desert in 2021 before clinching the title last year.
In a bid to repeat his success in the event, Fritz will face off against Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals on March 16. The duo have clashed once before in their careers - in the Round of 16 of the same tournament in 2021, where Fritz emerged victorious.
