- Alexander Zverev has denied allegations of abuse by two different women
- Morgan Riddle made a series of since-deleted posts that appeared to refer to the German player, who lost to Riddle’s boyfriend Taylor Fritz on Monday.
- Riddle has now sought to explain his decision to delete his Instagram story.
Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend Morgan Riddle has broken her silence after deleting Instagram posts that seemingly referenced her opponent Alexander Zverev’s abuse allegations.
Riddle, likeSocial media influencer who has 17.2 million likes on TikTok and is working together with Wimbledon to produce content, deleted an Instagram video showing her enjoying a drink with the caption ‘when your man beats the girls’.
Earlier, while the match was taking place, she also posted a photo from the pitch on her story and wrote: “Cheer hard, ladies,” but later deleted that as well.
Fans were quick to connect the dots to suggest Riddle was indirectly referring to Fritz’s opponent Zverev, who last year was accused in court documents of physically abusing a woman in 2020.
Last month he agreed to a plea deal in the case, detailing that he would pay Brenda Patea, the mother of his child, £184,148, but was found not guilty of any wrongdoing (Patea has publicly identified herself as the victim in the case).
In less than 24 hours, Riddle has already explained to his 320,000 Instagram followers why he hastily deleted his posts.
Morgan Riddle deleted Instagram posts that appeared to target Alexander Zverev on Monday
Riddle posted a story saying ‘cheer hard ladies’ during the five-set match on Centre Court.
Riddle, a popular social media influencer, watched as her boyfriend Fritz beat Zverev
“As for my stories from yesterday… I took them down as soon as I realized the misunderstanding and how exaggerated they had become by the media,” he said.
‘It wasn’t about anything that happened off the tennis court and there’s no bad blood between anyone.
‘I’m very proud of T (Taylor) for yesterday’s game, thanks to the crowd for the support and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game.’
An argument broke out after the match when Zverev attacked the crowd in Fritz’s area, which many concluded was a criticism of Riddle.
After the five-set match, which saw Fritz advance to the last eight at Wimbledon, the two players had a tense exchange at the net as Zverev had a few words with his opponent.
The German said afterwards that he was upset with some people in Fritz’s box who “may not be from the tennis world.”
“His team is extremely respectful. I think his coach, his physiotherapist and also his second coach are extremely respectful,” Zverev said.
“I think there are other people who may be in the draw who are not part of the tennis world, who are not exactly the kind of people who watch every match. They went a bit overboard.”
Riddle has amassed a huge following on social media by showcasing his life around tennis.
Riddle and Taylor Fritz, the world number 14 in tennis, have been dating for four years.
Riddle appeared in good spirits on the grounds Tuesday morning, doing some filming work with the crew at Wimbledon as he made his way to an empty Centre Court with Rufus the Hawk.
The fight continued until the next morning, despite her boyfriend Fritz’s attempts to calm her down.
Fritz sat down for an interview with The Tennis Channel to shed more light on the dispute on Monday night.
‘I think he was a little upset because my teammates were cheering me up when he got injured, but he said, ‘It’s nothing to do with you. Everyone’s fine…’ It doesn’t matter, everything’s fine.’
Fritz added: “I didn’t wish him a flight home.”
More to follow.