“No matter how he is, I’m staying here,” she told Glossy.

The WAG phenomenon—the wives and girlfriends of elite athletes—is nothing new. It emerged in the early 2000s with the fame of figures like Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. But Riddle is part of a new class of WAGs who are forging careers as social media influencers, parlaying their unique access to the world of sport into TikTok and Instagram followers and brand deals. And with beauty and fashion brands showing a growing interest in reaching diverse sports fans, WAGs’ special mix of insight and fanbase is especially valuable.

“An athlete can be very ambitious. Their followers might think, ‘I’ll never reach that level of fitness,’ or their lifestyle might seem completely out of line to a normal person. Someone like a WAG is much more tangible,” says Diana Perlov, senior director of client success at influencer marketing agency Open Influence. “They’re just people like you and me, but they’re still part of those basic lifestyles and can participate in those events we see on TV.”

Riddle and Fritz began dating in 2020 after meeting on Raya. At the beginning of their relationship, Riddle maintained her full-time job while traveling to tournaments with Fritz. It wasn’t until 2022 that she posted a “Get Ready with Me” video at the Australian Open that garnered 1.2 million views on TikTok and opened the door to her pursuing a career as an influencer. Today, Riddle has 530,000 followers on TikTok, where her audience is 96% female, nearly 350,000 on Instagram, and nearly 80,000 on YouTube. She calls the latter her favorite platform despite its smaller audience, as she finds the long-form format allows her audience to see her as a whole person, not just a photo.

“You can’t have a normal job when you’re on the road with your partner almost all the time,” she said of the move. “I think that’s why there are a lot of other partners on tour now who are doing similar things – because (being an influencer) is a flexible job that you can have. You’re already getting that kind of attention inherently, so why not capitalize on it?”

Other tennis influencers with professional partners include Paige Lorenze, girlfriend of Tommy Paul, who has nearly 700,000 Instagram followers, and Ayan Broomfield, former Division 1 tennis player and girlfriend of Frances Tiafoe, with 75,000 Instagram followers. They too have parlayed their following and reputation in the sports world into deals with fashion and beauty brands such as Dove and Lacoste, with Lorenze also launching her own clothing line, Dairy Boy, in 2021.

“There’s a really beautiful democratization of voice, just because of social media,” said Christopher Skinner, chief brand officer of e-commerce agency Front Row Group, which advised Serena Williams on the Wyn Beauty line. “Morgan is an incredible example of that. She’s not necessarily on the court, but she’s this supporting player who has her own identity and voice that are part of this culture-creating moment.”

Not only do athlete partners give fans a new way to access their favorite players, they also open the door to potential new sports fans, often female viewers who are not otherwise interested in sports and who often have an underestimated cultural influence.

“The fangirls are the ones who make the memes and the merchandising, who spread the word on social media and make the viral TikToks about the drivers or players,” said Riddle, who sees her platforms as helping to make the sport more welcoming to female fans. “People tend to look down on them a little bit in the sports world, but I’m like, ‘They’re the ones who grow the sport. So have a little respect.'”

Few sports players embody the power of fangirls better than Taylor Swift, who has been dating Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce since September 2023. The pop superstar’s first appearance at a Chiefs game reportedly resulted in a 400 percent increase in sales of Travis Kelce merchandise, with her mere presence generating $331.5 million in brand value for both the Chiefs and the NFL.

But despite their purchasing power, established sports institutions have not always had an easy relationship with these so-called fangirls. TikTok creator Katherine Ellis criticized NBC commentators Chris Fowler and John McEnroe for their dismissive tone toward Riddle as she watched Fritz compete at Wimbledon in July. “You have only angered the women and made me stop watching tennis on NBC Sports,” Ellis told her audience.

However, Erin Ally, vice president of social media and influencer marketing at brand strategy and PR agency KWT Global, cautions brands and marketers against assuming that female sports viewers are a monolithic group or only get interested in sports through lifestyle influencers.

“There have been female sports fans for a very, very long time, long before Taylor Swift, and there will be female sports fans long after Taylor Swift,” Ally said. “Brands have to walk the fine line of attracting new female viewers while not alienating the diehard female viewers who have always been there.”

Riddle, for her part, isn’t worried about appealing to more conventional fans with her content.

“A lot of the criticism I get is from men, which is understandable because that’s not my audience,” Riddle said. “I understand that a 60-year-old tennis fan watching Wimbledon doesn’t want to see a video of what people are wearing at the tournament, and that’s totally fine. It’s not for everyone.”

Riddle also acknowledged that she has faced criticism online for turning her relationship with Fritz into a social media career – but the benefits have not been all one-sided: Her star status has also boosted Fritz’s profile. In the lead-up to this year’s US Open, Fritz has attended Riddle’s media appearances, sat on the tennis and fashion panels with her and Emily Oberg, and was named an Instagram friend in a Wall Street Journal profile.

“Social media has really expanded what a player means to a fan,” Ally said. “Years ago, fans of a player just loved him on the field. … Thanks to social media, they can now see the entire 360-degree lifestyle of the player himself.” And that includes their wives, girlfriends and partners who were previously seen but not heard.

Despite her busy schedule, Riddle said what happens on the court is the most important part of the Open. “(When it comes to my work here) I try not to stress too much and not take things so seriously. Because really, they’re just TikToks,” she said. “I would say that I measure a successful tournament by how Taylor does in the tournament.”