Taylor Fritz gently rebukes girlfriend Morgan Riddle at Wimbledon for exposing moment that ‘was never supposed to be public’

Taylor Fritz is finally a Wimbledon semi-finalist – and it has taken a long road to get there.   The American number one defeated Karen Khachanov in four sets to book his place in the final four at the All England Club.  That was his third Wimbledon quarter-final, losing in 2022 and 2024 at the same stage in five-set thrillers.  The defeat to Rafael Nadal in 2022 was particularly galling for Fritz, losing in a final set tie-break to the 20-time Grand Slam winner.

Nadal injured himself in the match, but battled through to a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios – only to be forced to withdraw with said injury, giving the Australian a bye into the final.  But it was after a third round defeat in 2021 to Alexander Zverev where he had to give himself a pep talk.  It 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.”

Fritz’s partner Morgan Riddle posted that on social media earlier in the tournament, to point out just how far the number five seed had come.  Riddle added: “A note Taylor wrote himself on the bus at Wimbledon on my phone after he lost and dropped out of the top 40 hahahaha.”  Fritz was asked about this during his on-court interview after beating Khachanov and gently reminded his girlfriend that he never wanted that note to be public.  He said: “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.  “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.

“I’m really happy with how I’ve turned my career around.”

After losing in the #Wimbledon QF twice, Taylor Fritz is now in his first semi-final at SW19 pic.twitter.com/x5OZbeNrGu

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2025

                                                               Morgan Riddle posted the note on social media this week

“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 started the match on fire, winning the first two sets with ease before dropping off in the third.  It was a battle to hang in there and get the win in the fourth.  Commenting on his performance, he remarked: “I’m feeling great to get through it. The match was going so well for me for two sets, I’ve never had a match flip so quickly, so it’s nice to get it done.  “I came back in the fourth set and got it done, momentum was not going to be on my side if it went to a fifth set.  “He definitely started playing better, but I gave him a lot of hope but not playing the best game to start set three.

                                                               Fritz will face Alcaraz or Norrie in the semi-final
Fritz was cheered on by influencer girlfriend Riddle on Court 1

“I’ve never had a match change like that so drastically, where I was playing so great, serving great, I didn’t feel like my serve was in danger. I put a lot of pressure on his serve.  “Out of nowhere, I started making a ton of mistakes. I went from feeling like I couldn’t miss to making a ton of mistakes.  “I really just had to fight to get that break back in the fourth and get the match back to neutral.”

Having lost in the quarters twice at Wimbledon before, another defeat in five sets may have been too much for Fritz.  He stated: “It’s an amazing feeling having played the quarter-finals here twice and lost in five twice, I don’t think I could have taken another one. I’m really happy I’m going to get to play the semis here.”  The American will now face with Carlos Alcaraz or Cameron Norrie in Friday’s semi-final.