Wimbledon feud erupts between Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend as Morgan Riddle riles German during defeat before celebrating a ‘win for the girls’ amid assault accusations
Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend appeared to target Alexander Zverev after the American tennis star defeated the German on Monday. Zverev also accused members of Fritz’s box of “overreacting” during the stunning comeback.
Zverev, who was accused in court documents last year of physically assaulting a woman in 2020, agreed to a plea deal in the case last month. He agreed to pay Brenda Patea, the mother of his child, $217,820 but was not found guilty of any wrongdoing (Patea has publicly identified himself as the victim in the case).
And when Fritz overcame a two-set deficit to record a blowout win over world number four Zverev at Wimbledon, his girlfriend Morgan Riddle wasted no time in ridiculing the alleged abuser.
The social media influencer, who has 17.2 million likes on TikTok, posted a video to her Instagram Story of herself enjoying a drink, with the caption, “when your man wins 4 the girls.”
The story now appears to have been deleted, as it is no longer on Riddle’s profile.
Morgan Riddle appeared to have it in for Alexander Zverev after he lost to Taylor Fritz
Riddle, a popular social media influencer, watched as her boyfriend got closer
Fritz and Zverev had a noticeably tense exchange at the net after the match ended
During the game, she also posted a photo of the field to her story and wrote, “Cheer loudly ladies.” That post is still there.
After the five-set match, which saw Fritz advance to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, a tense exchange of words broke out between the two players at the net, with Zverev exchanging a few words with his opponent.
He said afterwards that he was angry with some of the people in Fritz’s box who ‘may not be from the tennis world.’
“His team is extremely respectful. I think his coach, his physiotherapist, and also his second coach, are extremely respectful,” Zverev said.
“I think there are other people in the box who may not be from the tennis world, who may not have watched every match. They were a little bit over the top.”
Last October, the Berlin-Tiergarten District Court imposed a criminal penalty and a fine of approximately $488,000 on Zverev, who denies Patea’s claims of abuse.
A month later, he called the order “complete nonsense.”
Patea told German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung that Zverev strangled her during an argument.
Zverev was also accused of domestic violence by Olga Sharypova, a fellow tennis player and another ex-girlfriend of his.
Zverev accused certain members of Fritz’s box of being ‘over the top’ during the match
Riddle also posted a story saying “cheer loud ladies” during the five-set match
Fritz made a stunning comeback on Centre Court on Monday to defeat Zverev
Sharypova made the allegations – which Zverev also denied – in 2020. She accused him of hitting her in the face and choking her with a pillow.
The ATP investigated the claims (through an external agency) for 15 months, but ultimately decided not to punish Zverev based on insufficient evidence.
After his settlement in June, Zverev said: ‘I told you from the beginning, I told everyone. I’m glad it’s over. Yeah, nothing more to say.’
After beating Zverev 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3, Fritz will face Lorenzo Musetti for a shot at his first Grand Slam semi-final.
Fritz and Riddle, 26, have been dating for four years, with the latter becoming a well-known social media content creator.
While she has often documented her enjoyment of attending Fritz’s tournaments, she spoke openly earlier this year about her “scary” experience at the Super Bowl, after being “grabbed” and “harassed” by male NFL fans.
Riddle and Taylor Fritz, the world number 14 in tennis, have been in a relationship for four years
Riddle has built a large following on social media by showcasing her life around tennis
The influencer said she had an “extremely stressful” time at Allegiant Stadium.
Riddle detailed her traumatic experience on Instagram after the Chiefs-49ers game, admitting that it left her with a panic attack in the restroom in the third quarter.
“I didn’t want to post about this but I think it’s important,” she wrote. “I can’t believe the amount of harassment we’ve had to deal with this weekend from men.
‘For the last 3 days I’ve been grabbed, groped, harassed, catcalled incessantly – basically every few minutes we’ve been out in public. And it was really bad during today’s game.
“We couldn’t even enjoy the game without being harassed by drunk, rude, dirty male fans. It’s extremely stressful and scary.”
Riddle seemed to be having a much better time on Monday, laughing from the stands and filming her boyfriend’s game on her phone.
Fritz will face Musetti on Wednesday.