Taylor Fritz is America’s No 1 tennis star who is dating influencer Morgan Riddle and dreams of ending country’s wait for a US Open winner

Taylor Fritz can’t remember the exact score. But the broad outlines of the match are still etched in his memory more than a decade later: He was around 14 and lost. “Pretty routine,” the American recalls.

What he only recently discovered? There was more at stake in the match than ranking points and a place in the next round. His opponent that day, Tommy Paul, had made a side bet with rival Frances Tiafoe.

“He and Frances were going to play a game at exactly the same time — Tommy was playing me, Frances was playing someone else,” Fritz explains. “And they were having a race to see who could win first. It wasn’t even a question of whether he would win or not. It was a question of who could do it faster.”

Paul held up his end of the bargain. “He was playing me,” Fritz says. “But that’s just the way it was. A lot of those guys were better than me – and it wasn’t just Frances and Tommy. It was 10 or 15 other guys. I couldn’t even name them.”

He can laugh about it now. Now he’s at the top of the pile. Heading into the US Open, Fritz is the American No. 1, boyfriend of “the most famous woman in men’s tennis” and the shining example of a group of home contenders in New York.

The 12th seed (left) recalls a tournament in which a teenager, Tommy Paul (right), ‘played’ with him

The 26-year-old is currently ranked No. 12 in the world. At 13 is Ben Shelton. At 14 is Paul. At 16 is Sebastian Korda. At 20? Tiafoe. None have won a Grand Slam yet. All are hoping to end America’s 21-year wait for a male US Open champion.

In recent days, Andy Roddick’s voice has been echoing through the New York subway. Through loudspeakers on the platform, the 41-year-old has been giving directions to the spot where he won his Grand Slam title in 2003. Coco Gauff last year made it three American women’s titles since then. No man has reached the final since Roddick in 2006.

Fritz reached the last eight for the first time in 2023; he returns this year hoping to take things a step further. His career is headed that way, and earlier this summer, Fritz overcame long hours and lack of sleep to end Andy Murray’s career and win Olympic bronze in the men’s doubles. His partner in Paris? Paul.

It was the world number 14 who told Fritz about that race with Tiafoe. “We weren’t friends back then,” says Fritz. Now they are like “brothers.” “Unfortunately we didn’t do much off the field,” says Fritz. “But it was great to share that experience of winning a medal with Tommy. One of my best friends.”

She and Tiafoe were all born within eight months of each other. But they rarely shared a field as children. “I was miles behind,” Fritz explains. “One of the things that helped me improve so much was the first time I went to camp with all those guys.

More than ten years later, Fritz and Paul won Olympic bronze in the men’s doubles in Paris

He has been in a relationship with Morgan Riddle, the ‘most famous woman in men’s tennis’, since 2020

“I realized I wasn’t nearly as good as I thought.” Fritz came from a good background: his mother Kathy was once in the world’s top 10.

Until his mid-teens, however, the American divided his time between various sports, including basketball. “And then 30 minutes to an hour of tennis a day,” he recalls. “I never did any fitness. I never did any conditioning.”

He left his high school basketball team to go to that humiliating first tennis camp. But soon he was living with Paul—and Reilly Opelka—at the USTA base in Florida. “From when I was 15, 16, 17, I was so close to all those guys,” he says.

In 2022, Fritz watched Tiafoe defeat Rafael Nadal en route to the US Open semifinals. It was a run that catapulted his friend to stardom—suddenly, brands and celebrities wanted a piece of Tiafoe. Last year, it was Shelton, the fearless 21-year-old with a toothy smile and lightning-fast serve, who lit up Flushing Meadows. Fritz knows those two weeks could change his life.

“It’s huge — these are the two weeks of the year that I feel like all of America is really paying attention to tennis,” he says. “It’s a great opportunity to really be seen. But I’m not —” he pauses. “I don’t know, I don’t think about it too much.”

Fritz has built a close bond with her American compatriot – and US Open semi-finalist – Frances Tiafoe

She has exposed the sport – and her partner – to a new audience through social media

In the past, he was happy to kill time by playing video games and trash talking on the screen. Fortunately, Fritz’s girlfriend doubles as his publicist.

The 26-year-old has been in a relationship with Morgan Riddle since 2020. The influencer has been called the ‘most famous woman in men’s tennis’.

She’s exposed the sport—and her partner—to a new audience through social media. She’s released tennis-themed jewelry. She’s highlighted a different side of tennis—the lives of those who follow players around the world. She makes sure Fritz gets enough sleep and doesn’t eat too much Chipotle or McDonald’s.

She has become a figure in the sport in her own right, with the couple recently announcing a partnership with Heineken’s ‘L0VE.L0VE’ campaign for the US Open.

On the eve of the tournament, Fritz and Riddle—who has 17.8 million likes on TikTok—spoke on a panel about “the intersection of fashion and tennis.” They posed for photoshoots and coordinated in black Boss outfits. Why? It’s the color Fritz is wearing for this week’s evening matches.

Last year, it was reported that they stayed in Manhattan’s posh Hudson Yards neighborhood during the US Open and took a helicopter to Queens.

Riddle was involved in a storm surrounding Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon earlier this year

Riddle knew nothing about tennis before they met, but earlier this summer she became the story at the sport’s biggest event. After Fritz defeated Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon, the German appeared to take a thinly veiled dig at Riddle.

Both during and after the match, she posted messages on social media that appeared to allude to allegations of abuse against Zverev. He denies any wrongdoing.

Zverev and Fritz are on the same side of the draw for this US Open. There are other major hurdles between No. 12 and a first Grand Slam – namely Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.

“I want to make a big run,” says Fritz, who knows what that can mean – on and off the field.

‘All those things come second when you perform well… I’m really just focused on results, trying to be the best player I can be. And living up to the expectations I’ve set for myself.’ This time, there are no extra prizes for beating the clock.