{"id":2449759,"date":"2026-06-08T12:04:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T12:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2449759"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:04:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T12:04:48","slug":"morgan-riddle-on-her-taylor-fritz-breakup-moving-to-nyc-and-life-after-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/morgan-riddle-on-her-taylor-fritz-breakup-moving-to-nyc-and-life-after-tennis\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Riddle on Her Taylor Fritz Breakup, Moving to NYC, and Life After Tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In case you haven\u2019t noticed, Morgan Riddle has been very outside<\/em> as of late. She moved to New York earlier this spring, and ever since, her Instagram grid<\/a> has become a mosaic of rooftop photo shoots, day drinking in the West Village, and head-out-the-window taxi escapades with her girlfriends.<\/p>\n

Riddle isn\u2019t the only one in her inner circle who recently took up New York City residence. Her best friend now lives down the block from her, and she was already friendly with a bunch of the women in her building. \u201cI watch The Buccaneers <\/em>and in the second season they have a townhouse that was a lady commune,\u201d Riddle tells me when we meet at Pier 25 on the Hudson River Parkway for a short-lived \u201chot girl walk.\u201d (It was windy. We got hungry. There were far too many finance bros juggling calls with cardio.) \u201cI think it\u2019s technically illegal in New York City because of brothels, so this is my version of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Dress, Self-Portrait. Earrings, bracelet, Ben Amun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The 28-year-old influencer, who can recite her entire birth chart by heart, attributes these moves to her group entering their Saturn return<\/a>. \u201cYou don\u2019t expect to get uprooted in such a way, but it sneaks up on you,\u201d says Riddle. \u201cAll of my girlfriends around my age had something<\/em>\u2014whether it\u2019s a job change, moving across the country, or a breakup.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Riddle, it was a combination of all three. Soon after she began dating tennis star Taylor Fritz in 2020, the icy blonde beauty emerged as the defining WAG of the sport, with spectators obsessively tracking both her courtside fashion (a head-to-toe chocolate Ferragamo ensemble one day, a vintage Valentino corset and matching skirt the next) and social content (her first viral TikTok was a \u201cGRWM\u201d for the Australian Open<\/u><\/a>). By 2023, The<\/em> New York Times<\/em> had dubbed her \u201cthe most famous woman in men\u2019s tennis<\/u><\/a>,\u201d and deals with brands from Grey Goose to Chanel Beauty followed.<\/p>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Jumpsuit, Etro. Necklace, Versace. Shoes, Christian Louboutin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Then, six or so years later, they broke up. Riddle tells me that the split occurred just over two months ago, and at first, she was unsure how to \u201chard launch\u201d the news. \u201cWhen public relationships end, it\u2019s standard to do some sort of Instagram statement or video, and I tried to write that a few times and I was just like, \u2018This is not me,\u2019\u201d she says once we\u2019ve relocated to Tribeca mainstay The Odeon for lunch. Instead, she ordered a \u201cworld\u2019s best ex-girlfriend\u201d T-shirt on Amazon<\/u><\/a>, took a selfie in it, and added the picture to a carousel of New York nightlife snapshots. \u201cWe\u2019re on good terms, so I wanted to make it more lighthearted than breakups usually are online,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen public relationships end, it\u2019s standard to do some sort of Instagram statement or video, and I tried to write that a few times and I was just like, \u2018This is not me.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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In the following weeks, she continued finding ways to \u201cmake breakups fun again\u201d<\/u><\/a>\u2014the personal manifesto she debuted via the caption of a video showing off the sequin Fendi Baguette she bought in lieu of a couch for her new apartment. But Riddle says her current antics pale in comparison to what she\u2019d post before there was a K next to her follower count. \u201cI used to have this recurring series where if men would send me, like, diabolical DMs I would find their government name, their LinkedIn, and dox them,\u201d she says in her affectless manner of speaking, which, much like the impassive expression she\u2019d wear during matches, conceals a mischievous streak.<\/p>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Dress, LoveShackFancy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBecause people would get offended by everything in the tennis world, and it didn\u2019t only reflect on me, I had to reel myself in a lot. Now I don\u2019t have to do that anymore!\u201d (Three weeks after our interview, Riddle posted a video<\/u><\/a> in response to a controversial New York Times<\/em><\/u> op-ed about hetero-optimism<\/u><\/a>, saying, \u201cMisandry is personal and it irritates and misogyny is institutional and it kills.\u201d Then she suggested some of her favorite recent reads: Strangers<\/em><\/u><\/a>, Men Who Hate Women<\/em><\/u><\/a>, Wordslut<\/em><\/u><\/a>, Pink-Pilled<\/em><\/u><\/a>, Men Explain Things<\/em><\/u> to Me<\/em><\/u><\/a>, Face<\/em><\/u><\/a>, I Who Have Never Known Men<\/em><\/u><\/a>, and The Story of Art Without Men<\/em><\/u><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no place she\u2019d rather be unleashed upon than New York City. She recently bought a Brick and has been spending full Saturdays out and about with her girlfriends, blissfully blocked from logging onto social media. Most of her nights out are spent at various members-only clubs, though she also has a favorite dive bar. \u201cLiving in L.A. the last five years, I was always so excited to go on the next trip. But I had to go to London last week for two days and I was like, \u2018Oh my gosh, I miss New York,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI love my new Barbie dream house apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Dress, ISAIA Napoli.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ugly Betty <\/em>was always the show that made her fantasize about moving to Manhattan. She\u2019s now watching Sex and the City<\/em> for the first time and she and her stylist, Emily Essen, are feeling sartorially inspired. \u201cWe\u2019ve always really loved pulling vintage, so I could see us doing a lot more of that, even if it\u2019s just $20 T-shirts from an old man\u2019s eBay closet that we cut up and into a cute dress,\u201d says Essen, who works under Jared Ellner<\/u><\/a>, the stylist of choice for It girls like Sabrina Carpenter. \u201cThere just hasn\u2019t been much opportunity at the fancier events to explore what her day dressing could look like, what her street style could be, so that\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for DeuxMoi\u2019s assertion she moved to the city for a man in finance? \u201cI\u2019m really glad they went with that because it\u2019s so funny,\u201d she says of the fake news. \u201cI think I\u2019m going to start playing off of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Person<\/p>\n
Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Jumpsuit, Etro. Necklace, Versace.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Growing up in Minneapolis, Riddle never fantasized about marriage. Her parents split when she was in preschool, leaving Riddle to be primarily raised by her mother. \u201cShe would work late nights and I\u2019d be in the office with her, seeing how important it is to always have your own money,\u201d says Riddle, \u201cI was just so inspired by watching her build her own career as a single mom. I never wanted to rely on someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, according to her best friend, Colton Arman, Riddle has become the person everyone relies on. \u201cI think of Morgan like the Taylor Swift song \u2018Father Figure.\u2019 She\u2019s just very giving with her family, friends, and loved ones. She never really asks for anything in return,\u201d Arman tells me of the eldest daughter. \u201cShe is truly just one of the smartest, funniest, and most clever girls I\u2019ve ever met. There are friends I worry about in life, but Morgan is someone who I know will be successful and happy whichever way she decides to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Dress, ISAIA Napoli. Earrings, Ben Amun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The faith Arman places in her has a lot to do with the life she built well before she became tennis\u2019s favorite better half. After graduating from Wagner College in Staten Island as an English major, where she jokes that she also \u201cdated a hockey player\u2014traumatizing,\u201d Riddle returned to Minnesota and took on jobs in social media at Love Your Melon<\/u><\/a>, a beanie brand benefiting pediatric cancer research, and at a video game nonprofit. When the pandemic made remote work possible, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she met Fritz on Raya and moved in with him within weeks. When the Association of Tennis Professionals tour resumed in 2021, she joined him on the road.<\/p>\n

For the first year, she kept up a nine-to-five. But between the constant travel, tournament demands, and scheduling challenges across time zones, fashioning her life as a tennis WAG into a career proved far more sustainable. Not to mention lucrative. (Riddle\u2019s earnings from one sponsored TikTok alone are about five times what she was making in a month at her former jobs, she told <\/u>The New York Times<\/em><\/u><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Cardigan, Guest In Residence. Shorts, The Frankie Shop. Pumps, Christian Louboutin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Serving looks offered Riddle another revenue stream, too. \u201cI tell her all the time that fashion is just like a sport. There\u2019s different players, different teams, different coaches,\u201d says Essen, whose guidance has helped Riddle land partnerships with designers like Thom Browne. \u201cIf you play it right, you can keep climbing this, and she gets really into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cSay, hypothetically, I fully supported him and his career and didn\u2019t make my own money and didn\u2019t develop my own brand, what would I be doing now? Would I be back in Minnesota?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Building financial independence was important to her. \u201cSay, hypothetically, I fully supported him and his career and didn\u2019t make my own money and didn\u2019t develop my own brand, what would I be doing now? Would I be back in Minnesota?\u201d Riddle wonders. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have that autonomy and you don\u2019t make your own money and you want to leave [a relationship]…I just hope any WAG or woman can make that choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also wouldn\u2019t have developed the skills needed to help cofound The 400 Club<\/a>, a sports marketing agency and membership community centered on female sports fans that she runs alongside British entrepreneur Cherry Beagles. \u201cI could\u2019ve started a tennis athleisure brand like five years ago, but I didn\u2019t feel like the world needed another one,\u201d Riddle says. \u201cBringing people together to watch sports, and making it a more welcoming environment and experience for women and girls, felt more aligned with my mission.\u201d They recently hosted a Miami Grand Prix watch-party event for 400 London-based F1 fans, replete with espresso martinis and gift bags. And between the rise of hockey-centered shows like Off Campus<\/em> and Heated Rivalry<\/em>, plus the real-life success of the U.S. national hockey teams at the Olympics, Riddle is also eager to bring the girls to the rink. \u201cI feel like every NHL team needs to be locking in on [their female audience].\u201d<\/p>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Dress, Self-Portrait. Earrings, Ben Amun.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Florence Sullivan<\/span><\/figcaption>

Dress, Self-Portrait. Earrings, bracelet, Ben Amun. Shoes, Stella McCartney.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Riddle didn\u2019t necessarily expect this deeper investment in sports to dovetail with her departure from WAG-dom, but it\u2019s the player she\u2019s sworn off, not the game. \u201cI made, like, a 33-point non-negotiables list for [my next relationship]. It has basic things like political alignment, shared life goals, intellectual intimacy, no sports betting or gambling, only makes my life happier,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I look toward my next relationship, I will prioritize being loved in the way that [Colton] loves me. I think that\u2019s the most important lesson out of all of this. I would not have been able to make the decision I made or do what I\u2019ve done the last two months without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, and one other key nonnegotiable? \u201cI\u2019ll never date an athlete again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Lead Image: Cardigan, Guest In Residence. Bra, shorts, The Frankie Shop. Necklace, Jennifer Behr.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hair by Rei Kawauchi for Oribe; makeup by Sasha Borax for La Mer.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n