’An Argument I Wasn’t Making’ – Taylor Fritz’s Ex-Girlfriend Morgan Riddle Reacts to Backlash As Controversial Take Goes Viral

While Taylor Fritz continues his impressive run at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, his ex-girlfriend, social media influencer and entrepreneur Morgan Riddle, has ignited controversy with her comments on female sports fans. Amid fierce backlash and accusations of misogyny, Riddle has explained the rationale behind her comments.

Why Taylor Fritz’s Ex-Girlfriend Morgan Riddle Is Facing Backlash

Riddle became a well-known figure in the tennis community during her nearly six-year relationship with Fritz, using her platform as an influencer to introduce the sport to a younger, predominantly female audience. Although the couple ended their relationship in April, she has remained involved in the sporting community through her venture, The 400 Club, which focuses on making sports more accessible and inclusive for female fans.

While promoting the venture on the “Fashion and Founders” podcast, Riddle said, “The tennis content I was making, it never was really about the sport. I never talked about the players or the scores, forehand or backhand. It was always more about the experience of a live sporting event.”

She also spoke about how leagues are increasingly targeting female fans due to the growing influence of sports in pop culture.

“I think another part of it is how the fandom was measured because in the last 10 years, especially, this pop culture moment with sports has really grown and evolved. There’s so much media about sports. Now we have Heated Rivalry and Off-Campus, and we had Challengers,” Riddle said.

Riddle, whom The New York Times once dubbed “the most famous woman in men’s tennis,” argued that sports marketing was once “male-centric,” focusing on “knowledge of players and statistics,” and it has since shifted toward engaging female audiences through lifestyle.

“So much of interest in sport was measured through knowledge of the players and statistics and very sort of male-centric marketing, and now it’s shifted. It’s about the fashion, the travel, the lifestyle, the personal lives of the players,” she said. “Social media has also really contributed to that because before, sport was a viewing experience, and now it’s so participatory.”

Riddle credited women’s fascination with WAG culture and fashion for helping make female fans the driving force behind sports’ growing influence on mainstream culture.

“Women are really the culture drivers in that because they’re the ones who are more interested in the WAGs and the personal lives of the players and the fashion aspect of it. They’re the ones who are making the memes and making the Heated Rivalry edits,” she added. “I think now leagues and rights holders are paying attention to how much they really contribute to the sport.”

When Riddle’s take was shared on Instagram, she faced pushback, with one female tennis coach describing her comments as a “poor take” and criticizing what she saw as the reduction of female sports fans to only being interested in “fashion, travel, and social media.”

In a brief response, the 28-year-old said, “Feel free to actually listen to the episode. Hear that that is literally exactly what we talk about for over an hour.”

Another user denounced the remarks as “counterintuitive,” commenting, “Love the effort, but women-centric marketing being travel and fashion while framing men as the ultimate recipient of statistics and knowledge seems counterintuitive and reductionist. Women fans can be just as passionate about sports and its fundamentals, definitely not just aesthetics.”

MORE: ‘I Felt So Guilty’ – Taylor Fritz’s Ex-Girlfriend Morgan Riddle Explains Why She Ended Their 6-Year Relationship

In response, Riddle insisted that she never intended to suggest that women were uninterested in sports themselves. “I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive. As clearly stated in the second slide, we were discussing POP CULTURE and sports CULTURE, not suggesting women aren’t interested in the game itself. The point was that fandom can include both knowing the Xs and Os and caring about the broader cultural ecosystem around sports. Think you’re responding to an argument I wasn’t making lmao,” Riddle wrote.

However, as her comments also went viral on X, amassing over 1 million views, Riddle continued to face backlash. Tennis lifestyle journalist Jessica Schiffer criticized her for suggesting that interest in “statistics” is male-centric, a sentiment that also rubbed fans the wrong way.

“Yeah, I didn’t get the sense that’s what she was referring to, though… I don’t like the gambling focus either. But “knowledge of the players” and “stats” are such broad, weird things to call male-centric,” Schiffer commented.

Many accused Riddle of perpetuating the perceived “misogynistic” and “shameful” narrative that women lack genuine knowledge about sports.

“All dumb jokes aside, it’s sooo misogynistic (especially coming from a woman who spent so much time within sport) to reduce our love for the fashion and travel and to imply stats and the sport itself are “male-centric,” one fan wrote.

“The way female sports fans are talked about in media, especially by other women, is shameful,” said another.

MORE: ‘Not up to Me’ – Taylor Fritz Struggles With Leaving Son Jordan at Home As Serena Williams Keeps Family Close

Amid the controversy surrounding Morgan Riddle’s comments, No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz has kept his focus on his Wimbledon campaign. The American rallied from a set down to defeat Lorenzo Sonego 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(5), securing his place in the fourth round. He will next take on No. 10 seed Alexander Bublik in one of the marquee clashes of the round.