“People openly displaying hate for women” – Fans defend Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend Morgan Riddle after she cops criticism over 'too confident' comment

Tennis fans have come out in support of Taylor Fritz's girlfriend Morgan Riddle after she faced flak for saying her boyfriend was 'too confident' ahead of his Australian Open fourth round match.

Fritz downed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 at John Cain Arena on Sunday, January 21. He is set to play 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

In his on-court interview after the Sunday win, Fritz said his girlfriend had flagged him for being 'too confident' about his chances against Tsitsipas. That angered a lot of tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter). One of the fans called out Riddle, saying:

"His own girl doubting him is crazy."

A separate set of X users, however, immediately extended support to Riddle. One of the users opined it was absolutely normal for her to keep Fritz close to reality.

"Normal that she wouldn’t want him to be overconfident and take the opponent for granted. Many good players have lost because of that. Always be confident, never be too confident," the fan wrote.

Another user chimed in, saying:

"Morgan Riddle has witnessed Taylor take some very nasty Ls firsthand so I’m not surprised she thought he was being cocky."

A third user was upset seeing the criticism.

"Jesus the people in this comment section just openly displaying their hate for women. Somehow they even brought Mirka into it," the user tweeted.

Here are a few more reactions from X:

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Taylor Fritz: I think that I have a lot more level to bring than I've previously brought against Novak Djokovic

Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz will next lock horns with Novak Djokovic, with a semifinal spot up for grabs at the Australian Open 2024. Fritz has yet to win a match against the Serb; he currently trails 8-0 in the head-to-head.

The American acknowledged that he has failed to live up to the task against Djokovic in their recent duels.

"I mean, to be honest, the only decent match I've played against him in our last couple meetings was in Turin at the end of '22. In that match I served for the second set. It was pretty close. Since then when I've played him, I've played pretty poor, I think," Taylor Fritz said during a press conference in Melbourne.

Fritz added, however, that he's capable of performing better against Djokovic.

"I think that I have a lot more level to bring than I've previously brought against him. Hopefully I can play another match like today," Taylor Fritz said.