Wimbledon star Taylor Fritz admits girlfriend comment 'not best choice of words'
Taylor Fritz may have celebrated reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals, but the American tennis ace left the All England Club with slight embarrassment over his choice of words about his girlfriend. The 27-year-old battled through to the semi-finals with a four-set triumph against Karen Khachanov, despite encountering technical difficulties with the Electronic Line Calling system during their match.
The American arrived at Wimbledon as the fifth seed following impressive showings at the US Open and ATP Finals last year. While Fritz had previously reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals twice in the past three years, a disappointing third-round exit in 2021 motivated him to elevate his performance.
A past social media post from his partner Morgan Riddle has recently gained fresh attention, revealing the motivational message Fritz penned to himself in the aftermath. Following his win over Khachanov, Fritz praised his girlfriend's positive impact since they started their relationship in 2020, though he quickly wished he could take back one particular comment.
"Yeah, I mean, there's been a pretty constant, I guess, results and ranking rise since we've been together," Fritz explained after his quarter-final win. "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.
"There's an obvious correlation between my results and ranking and the time we've been together." Yet, when probed about his earlier "mother me" remark at the end of his press conference, a smiling Fritz conceded: "Yeah, that maybe wasn't the best choice of words."
The pair began their relationship after connecting on a dating app during the Covid-19 pandemic. Riddle had previously posted the self-critical note Fritz had written in 2021. The blunt message read: "Nobody in the whole world is underachieving harder than you, you are so f****** good, but 40 in the world get your f****** s*** together."
Explaining the context, Riddle's post was captioned: "A note Taylor wrote himself on the bus at Wimbledon on my phone after he lost and dropped out of the top 40 hahaaha." Addressing the crowd after his Wimbledon quarter-final triumph, Fritz seemed slightly uncomfortable with the note's publicity but recognised how it had fuelled his improvement.
"At the time, I felt like my ranking was slipping and I was coming back from a surgery and I wasn't playing to the level that I felt I should be playing at," Fritz admitted. "That note was never supposed to be public... I was ranting to my girlfriend about it and she said, 'Write it down, look at it.'".
"Yeah... I'm really happy at how I've turned my career around over the last four years. I've put in a lot of work and it's good to see the results."
Fritz and Riddle have become one of the most famous couples in tennis, having appeared on the Netflix docuseries Break Point. As an influencer, Riddle shares her unique perspective on tennis, including fashion advice and other insights as the partner of a tennis star.
Riddle began cheering Fritz on at tournaments in 2021. She has amassed 597k followers on TikTok, 453k on Instagram and has a YouTube channel where she posts travel vlogs.
Riddle is expected to be present for Fritz's semi-final showdown against reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz this Friday. Alcaraz secured his spot by defeating British ace Cameron Norrie in straight sets.
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