7 minute readIn case you haven’t noticed, Morgan Riddle has been out and about a lot lately. She moved to New York earlier this spring, and since then her Instagram grid has become a mosaic of rooftop photoshoots, West Village lunches, and window-cab escapes with her girlfriends.
Riddle is not the only member of her inner circle to have recently settled in New York City. Her best friend now lived a block away from her house, and she was already friendly with many of the women living in the same building. “I’m watching ‘Buccaneers,’ and in season two, there’s a townhouse that was a lady commune,” Riddle tells me when we meet for a brief “Hot Girl Walk” at Pier 25 on the Hudson River Parkway. (It was windy. I was hungry. Too many finance people juggling phone calls and cardio.) “I think it’s technically illegal in New York City because of the brothels. So this is my version.”
Dress, self-portrait. Earrings, bracelets, Ben Amun.
The 28-year-old influencer, who can recite her entire birth chart, attributes these moves to her group entering the Saturn Return. “You don’t expect to be uprooted like this, but it creeps up on you,” Riddle says. “All my girlfriends my age had gone through something, whether it was changing jobs, moving, or breaking up.”
In Riddle’s case, it was a combination of all three. Shortly after she began dating tennis star Taylor Fritz in 2020, the icy blonde beauty emerged as the sport’s defining WAG, with spectators gawking at her courtside fashion (one day wearing head-to-toe chocolate). Lehto’s Ferragamo ensemble one day, a vintage Valentino corset and matching skirt the next) and her social content (her first viral TikTok was “GRWM” at the Australian Open) were followed obsessively. By 2023, The New York Times dubbed her “the most famous woman in men’s tennis,” and deals with brands from Gray Goose to Chanel Beauty followed.
Jumpsuit, Etro. Necklace, Versace. Shoes are Christian Louboutin.
About six years later, they broke up. Riddle said the breakup happened just over two months ago and that she was initially unsure how to “spread the word” with the news. “When a public relationship ends, it’s common to post some kind of statement or video on Instagram. I tried writing it a few times, but I was like, ‘This isn’t me,'” she said after relocating to Tribeca mainstay The Odeon for lunch. Instead, she ordered a “World’s Best Ex-Girlfriend” T-shirt from Amazon, took a selfie in it, and added the photo to a merry-go-round of New York nightlife snapshots. “We’re very close, so I wanted it to be more light-hearted than a typical online breakup,” she explains.
In the weeks that followed, she continued to search for ways to “make the breakup fun again.” It debuted her personal statement through the caption of a video showing off the sequined Fendi Baguette she bought to replace the sofa in her new apartment. But Riddle says her current antics pale in comparison to what she posted before the “K” was added next to her follower count. “I used to do a regular series where men would send me nefarious DMs and I would find out their government name, LinkedIn, and identify their personal information,” she says, speaking in a deadpan way that hides a mischievous side, much like the deadpan look she wears during games.
Dress, Love Shack Fancy.
“Because in the tennis world, people get upset about everything. And not only does it affect me, I had to get myself pretty upset. Now I don’t have to do that anymore!” (Three weeks after the interview, Riddle posted a video in response to a controversial New York Times op-ed on heterosexual optimism, saying, “Misandry is personal and it frustrates; misogyny is systemic and it kills.”) Afterward, she suggested some of her favorite recent books: The Strangers, Men Who Hate Women, The Word-Based, The Pink Pill, Men Explain Things, Faith, I Don’t Know Men, and The Story of the Art of Men.
There’s no better place to let her loose than New York City. She recently bought a Brick, is blocked from logging into social media, and spends all Saturdays out with her girlfriends. Most of her nights out are spent at various members only clubs, but she also has a favorite dive bar. “I’ve lived in L.A. for the past five years, so I’ve always been really excited to go on another trip. But last week I had to go to London for two days, and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I miss New York,'” she says. “I love my new Barbie Dream Home Apartment.”
Dress, ISAIA Napoli.
Ugly Betty was the show that always made her dream of moving to Manhattan. She’s currently watching Sex and the City for the first time and feels inspired by fashion alongside stylist Emily Essen. “We’ve always loved pulling vintage, so we’re trying to do a lot more, even if it’s a $20 T-shirt you found in an old man’s eBay closet, cutting it up and making it into a cute dress,” says Essen, who works for Jared Ellner, the stylist of choice for IT girls like Sabrina Carpenter. “We haven’t had much of a chance to explore what her everyday dressing will be like and what her street style will be like at the extravagant events, so we’re really excited.”
As for DeuxMoi’s claim, does that mean she moved to the city in search of a man in finance? “I’m really glad they picked it up because it’s so funny,” she says of Fake News. “I think I’ll start playing from there.”
Jumpsuit, Etro. Necklace, Versace.
Growing up in Minneapolis, Riddle never fantasized about marriage. Her parents divorced when she was a preschooler, leaving Riddle to be raised primarily by her mother. “She worked late into the night and I was in the office with her. She understood how important it was to always have her own money,” Riddle says. “I was so inspired by watching her build her own career as a single mom. I didn’t want to rely on anyone else.”
In fact, Riddle has become someone everyone trusts, according to his close friend Colton Ehrman. “I think of Morgan like the Taylor Swift song ‘Father Figure.’ She gives so much to her family, her friends, her loved ones. She never asks for anything in return,” Armand tells me about her eldest daughter. “She truly is one of the smartest, funniest, smartest girls I’ve ever met. I have friends in my life that I worry about, but Morgan is someone I know will be successful and happy in whatever path she takes.”
Dress, ISAIA Napoli. Earrings, Ben Amun.
The trust Armand has in her has a lot to do with the life she built long before she became tennis’ favorite better half. After graduating from Wagner College in Staten Island with an English major, Riddle joked that she was “traumatized by dating a hockey player,” she returned to Minnesota and worked in social media for Love Your Melon, a beanie brand that benefits childhood cancer research, and a video game nonprofit. When the pandemic made remote work possible, she moved to Los Angeles, where she met Fritz On Raya and moved in together within weeks. When the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour resumed in 2021, she accompanied him on the trip.
In her first year, she maintained a record of 9 wins and 5 losses. But between the constant travel, the demands of tournaments, and the challenges of coordinating schedules across time zones, incorporating her life as a tennis WAG into a career turned out to be far more sustainable. Needless to say, it is profitable. (Riddle’s income from one sponsored TikTok alone is about five times what she was making in a month from her previous job, she told The New York Times.)
Cardigan, Guest In Residence. Shorts, Franky Shop. The pumps are Christian Louboutin.
Providing looks also provided Riddle with another source of income. “I always tell her that fashion is like a sport: there are different players, different teams, and different coaches,” Essen says. His guidance helped Lidl form partnerships with designers like Thom Browne. “If you play it right, you can keep climbing this path. She’s into it.”
Building financial independence was important to her. “If I fully supported him and his career, didn’t make my own money, and didn’t develop my own brand, what would I be doing now? Would I move back to Minnesota?” The wonder of the riddle. “If you don’t have that autonomy, if you can’t make your own money, if you want to leave[the relationship]…I hope any WAG or woman can make that choice.”
Nor would she have been able to develop the skills she needed to co-found The 400 Club, a sports marketing agency and membership community centered around female sports fans, which she runs with British entrepreneur Cherry Beagles. “We could have started a tennis athleisure brand like five years ago, but we didn’t feel like the world needed another brand,” Riddle says. “I felt that bringing people together to watch sports and creating a more welcoming environment and experience for women and girls was more in line with my mission.” They recently hosted a Miami Grand Prix Watch Party event for 400 London-based F1 fans, complete with espresso martinis and gift bags. And between the rise of hockey-centric shows like “Off Campus” and “Heat Rivalry,” and the real-life success of the U.S. hockey team at the Olympics, Riddle is also keen to get girls to the rink. “I feel like every NHL team needs to include (female spectators).”
Dress, self-portrait. Earrings, Ben Amun.
Dress, self-portrait. Earrings, bracelets, Ben Amun. Shoes are Stella McCartney.
Riddle didn’t think this deeper investment in the sport would necessarily equate to her departure from WAG-dom, but it’s the players, not the games, that she swears by. “I made a list of 33 non-negotiables[for my next relationship]which includes basics like political alignment, shared life goals, intellectual intimacy, and no sports betting or gambling, which will only make my life happier,” she says. “As I look to my next relationship, I’m going to make it a priority to be loved the way[Colton]loves me. I think that’s the most important lesson of all of this. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to make the decisions I made or be able to do what I’ve been doing for the past two months.”
Oh, and one more non-negotiable key: “Never date an athlete again.”
Lead image: Cardigan, Guest In Residence. Bras, panties, frankie shop. Necklace, Jennifer Baer.
Oribe’s hair is done by Rei Kawauchi. Makeup by Sasha Borax of La Mer.
