"Alexander Zverev's lawyers working overtime": Fans irked by Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle retracting seemingly pointed comment about German

Taylor Fritz's influencer girlfriend Morgan Riddle has retracted her comment allegedly directed at Alexander Zverev following Fritz and Zverev's marathon Wimbledon 4R clash on Monday, July 8. However, the influencer's actions and subsequent statement to clarify her position have not gone down well with tennis fans.

Fritz produced a masterful comeback against Zverev on Centre Court, clawing his way back and winning the fourth-round encounter against the World No. 4 despite losing the first two sets. After the American converted match point, he and Zverev came together for a customary handshake at the net. At this point, it seemed as if the German had something elaborate to tell Fritz.

Neither Fritz nor Zverev revealed what the latter's exact words were. However, the World No. 4 briefly touched on the pair's exchange at a press conference, where he said that he was not happy with some people who were seated in Fritz's box during the match (without naming them).

According to the German, they were a bit overzealous when it came to cheering the American on.

Later, Riddle, who was present in Fritz' box, took to her Instagram stories and shared two posts. In one, she could be seen enjoying a drink, while the other featured an image of Centre Court during the match.

The posts were captioned:

"When ur man wins 4 the girls"

And:

"Cheer loud ladies"

Riddle's posts soon started drawing attention on social media. It was assumed by many that the influencer was targeting Zverev over the domestic violence charges brought against him last year by his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his daughter Mayla, Brenda Patea.

The German was legally represented at a trial that coincided with his 2024 French Open campaign. Zverev was not found guilty, but was required to pay a €200,000 fine after opting for an out-of-court settlement.

Riddle later took down the posts and issued a clarification via another Instagram story, writing:

"Regarding my stories (on Instagram) yesterday, I took them down as soon as I realized the misunderstanding and how blown out of proportion they had become by the media. They were not about anything that's happened off the tennis court and there's no bad blood between anyone. Super proud of T (Fritz) for the match yesterday. Thank you to the crowd and looking forward to tomorrow (QF against Musetti)"

Several tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) were reluctant to take Riddle's clarification at face value. Some of them suggested that the influencer retracted her initial comments after intervention from one of Zverev's legal defense, the ATP's PR team, or Fritz's own PR team.

"Zverat's lawyers working overtime I see," wrote the fan, mocking Zverev's name by combining it with "rat," a slur commonly used by the German's critics on social media.

"The German lawyers giving her a call first thing this morning I bet," another fan commented.

"Oh ik the ATP PR gestapo knocked down her door with a gun….," another fan chimed in.

"OMG not Fritz's PR team hitting her with a gag order," yet another fan wrote.

Another set of fans opined that the clarification was Riddle's attempt to tone down the entire issue.

"Guys- this is S***TY. i get wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt, “maybe someone forced her to write this?” and maybe they did. but claiming “no bad blood” with a guy with multiple dv allegations is a horrible thing to say," one fan wrote.

"This is so absolutely false, because its there was no bad blood between anyone then zverev wouldnt have said what he said. trying to tone down the story is pointless, everyone got the memo," another fan weighed in.

""No bad blood between anyone" ew," commented another fan.

"Alexander Zverev was a little upset" - Taylor Fritz

Alexander Zverev (L) and Taylor Fritz (R) after their Wimbledon 2024 fourth-round match (Source: GETTY)

Taylor Fritz himself shed light on his exchange with Zverev at a press conference. The American said the German "was a little upset" because some of Fritz's team members kept cheering even when Zverev suffered a minor knock during the match. However, the World No. 12 went on to say that Zverev told him he held no grudges.

"[Alexander Zverev] was just like, 'good match; all good.' I think he was a little upset about I guess my team members cheering for me when he was injured. But he said, you know, ‘Nothing to do with you – you’re all good,’ whatever. So I mean whatever, it’s all good," Fritz said.

The 2022 BNP Paribas Open champion's next outing at SW19 is set to be in the quarterfinals, where he is slated to square off against Lorenzo Musetti. If Fritz progresses to the semis, he will face either Alex de Minaur or seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic.