Morgan Riddle, the girlfriend of Netflix Break Point star Taylor Fritz, has taken the tennis world by storm since she began dating the American in 2020. Riddle has helped bring the sport to the masses through her social media channels, especially TikTok.

What people might not know is that she has no background in tennis at all.

“I didn’t know a thing. Literally not a thing. I knew who Federer was. I didn’t even know who Nadal was. That’s not a joke,” Riddle told ATPTour.com. “I literally didn’t know anything about it. But I know a lot now. I would consider myself a tennis expert at this point, I really would.”

Riddle is from Minnesota where she grew up with another sport: hockey.

“My whole family plays hockey. My sister played college hockey, my dad played college hockey,” Riddle said. “It was very different going to tennis matches from that. Hockey games you show up in boots and a sweatshirt and you drink beer. It’s a very different atmosphere than tennis is.”

The social media influencer was a lifestyle contributor before she began dating Fritz. Riddle would create content including gift guide roundups for outlets including NBC Boston and NBC Chicago Today. She has enjoyed helping Fritz push tennis further into the mainstream, something they hope Break Point will accomplish.

“I always thought it was pretty exciting. Since Taylor and I first started dating one of the things he’s always said to me is that pretty much his main goal besides being a top player obviously is to make tennis more popular in the U.S. Honestly anything that we can do to work towards that,” Riddle said. “I have kind of helped him a bit with that or been on board with his mission to do that, so I think the show will just enforce that. Hopefully, we’ll see.”

According to Riddle, people who grow up playing or watching tennis understand things like scoring and etiquette as second nature. For someone like her who a few years ago did not know anything about the sport, there was a learning curve.

“Like making noise or clapping between a first serve and second serve. If I’m going to my first-ever tennis match, how am I going to know that?” Riddle said. “I didn’t, so I had to pick up on those little etiquette things that are really impossible to know if you’ve never been to a tournament or you’ve never watched a tennis match in your life.

“Those were probably the first things that I picked up. Then learning the scoring system, 30-Love, 15, what does that mean? I had no idea. That itself took me like a month. I was really confused.”

There are even week-to-week aspects of life on Tour to get used to. Not every tournament is the same and the atmosphere could be different.

“Some tournaments are more casual, but that’s like night and day from what Wimbledon is,” Riddle said. “It’s a different experience from most popular American sports.”

Another thing Riddle has learned is how many highs and lows the sport has. Last season was the best of Fritz’s career, winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, but every week only one singles player and one doubles team lifts the trophy.

“[He gets over the tough moments] pretty quickly. You have to. You can’t really hang onto it. Obviously, if he loses a bad match to someone he wasn’t supposed to lose to, he’ll kind of mope around for the rest of the night,” Riddle said. “But you’ve got to get to practice the next morning, so you can’t really let it dwell on you for too long. I think players need to have a pretty good bounceback from disappointment or losses because otherwise they’re just going to be miserable all the time.”

What should fans know about Fritz off the court that they might learn about the American in Break Point?

“He likes playing golf, he is very confident. For how shy he is, he’s very, very confident in who he is, his game and his ability and potential,” Riddle said.

She added: “He’s quite shy, quite introverted, definitely a homebody.

“You can still see it sometimes, even in press and stuff. You can see how shy he is. I think you’ll be able to tell in the show he’s a little more introverted than most, but it’s endearing in a way, too.”

After experiencing several highs and lows in 2022, Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo got off to a fast start this year on home soil at the season-opening Tigre Challenger.

The 21-year-old recently battled leg and hip injuries which forced him to take time off. When the lefty was able to play tournaments consistently in the latter part of 2022, he made a sudden impact as he triumphed at the Buenos Aires and Coquimbo Challengers. Cerundolo, who has won 19 of his past 22 matches, picked up right where he finished the previous season.

Cerundolo, seeded first, rallied from a set down in Sunday’s final to defeat Bolivian Murkel Dellien 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and claim the Challenger Aysa de Tigre-1.

Juan Manuel Cerundolo is crowned champion at the 2023 Tigre-1 Challenger. Credit: Asociación Argentina de Tenis

“I feel really good about this week,” Cerundolo said. “I think I had an amazing level, and tried to play offensive. The final was super tough coming from a set down, but I managed to turn it over. I’m really happy.”

At the Oeiras Indoor-1 Challenger in Portugal, Joris De Loore advanced through qualifying en route to collecting his maiden Challenger trophy. The Belgian took down Romanian Filip Cristian Jianu 6-3, 6-2 in the championship match.

De Loore is the oldest (29 years, 8 months) first-time winner since 2015, when Italian Luca Vanni won his maiden title at 31. The Bruges native has been plagued with injuries throughout his career, including missing the entire 2019 and 2020 seasons following multiple surgeries. The 29-year-old’s persistence paid off this week when he won the Challenger 50 event.

Joris De Loore earns his first Challenger title in Oeiras, Portugal. Credit: FPT/Sara Falcao

“Over the past seven years, every year I had a surgery,” De Loore said. “This [the title] will give me a boost, I really feel that I am physically good now and now it’s just about staying healthy. I think this year can be my year.”

In Canberra, Australia, Marton Fucsovics collected his second Challenger title in the past three months. The Hungarian defeated Swiss youngster Leandro Riedi 7-5, 6-4 in the final at the P2 Advisory Canberra International.

“It’s a great, great start of the year. Cannot wish for a better week,” Fucsovics said. “I was very focussed on each match and I felt very strong physically. I think it’ll help me in the future and especially at the Australian Open.”

Marton Fucsovics in action at the 2023 Canberra Challenger. Credit: Anastasia Kachalkova

Fucsovics, 30, has played some of his best tennis in Australia. The six-time Challenger champion has won 13 of his past 14 matches and will next look for another strong run at the season’s first Slam. The World No. 74 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings has twice reached the fourth round at the Australian Open (2018, 2020) before losing to Roger Federer on both occasions.

Saturday’s Canberra final marked the end of Riedi’s 16-match winning streak. The 20-year-old went on a late-season surge in 2022, when he collected the title at the Helsinki and Andria Challengers.

In Thailand, second seed Dennis Novak earned his first Challenger title since November 2019 (Bratislava). The Austrian defeated Tung-Lin Wu 6-4, 6-4 in the final to win the Bangkok Open-1.

“I played a really good tournament,” Novak said. “Lost only one set and felt really good, I would say it’s the perfect start to the season.”

The 29-year-old rises to 142 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings and keeps his eyes set on his goal for the season: “to get back into the Top 100.”

On the island of New Caledonia, Raul Brancaccio fended off a championship point before a four-hour rain delay to defeat Frenchman Laurent Lokoli 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 and win the Open SIFA Nouvelle-Caledonie.

After claiming his first Challenger title on home soil in July, the Italian had his back against the wall three times this week in Noumea. Brancaccio dropped the opening set in his final three matches of the week, including comeback wins against former Top-20 players Benoit Paire and Cristian Garin, who was seeded first at the Challenger 100 event.

An early-season equation has become clear: Thanasi Kokkinakis and Adelaide equals magic.

One year after lifting his first ATP Tour trophy in Adelaide, the Australian made more memories on his home court Monday evening when he battled past countryman Alexei Popyrin 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-5 after two hours and 45 minutes in the first round of the Adelaide International 2.

“It’s what you play for to be honest. I’ve had many great memories last year as well. Having that home energy and home crowd was crazy. I’m happy I gave them something to cheer about there,” Kokkinakis said. “It was almost going too smoothly, but then when I got the crowd into it and got them fired up, I know that’s what they came to see. It’s why you do all the work in all those tough moments. You remember those feelings and that’s something you can’t replicate other than [in] tennis.”

After falling behind by a break in the third set, it seemed Kokkinakis was on the brink of defeat. But the 26-year-old rallied for an emotional victory to the delight of the fans.

It will not get easier in the second round when Kokkinakis plays top seed Andrey Rublev, the No. 6 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“It’s going to be tough. He hits the [heck] out of the ball. I practised with him two days ago and it’s not easy. We played well, it was a good set. But it’s tricky. He’s a hell of a player,” Kokkinakis said. “It’s not going to be easy, but I’m going to take my game and get after it. It’s going to be a tough match.”

In other action, Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina ousted reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Brandon Nakashima 6-2, 7-6(3). Another player who competed in Milan last year, Briton Jack Draper, advanced past Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-2. The lefty saved three of the four break points he faced to claim his first win of the year.

American Mackenzie McDonald let slip a two-set advantage against Daniel Evans three years ago at the Australian Open. McDonald earned a measure of revenge on Monday when he ousted the Briton 7-5, 7-5.

Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic also reached the second round with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Briton Kyle Edmund.

Matteo Arnaldi enjoyed a breakthrough 2022, capped by his appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals. The 21-year-old Italian looks set to pick up where he left off last year.

Arnaldi eliminated Swiss United Cup team member Alexander Ritschard 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of Australian Open qualifying on Monday. He will next play Australian Alex Bolt, who ousted Argentine Renzo Olivo 6-1, 6-2.

#NextGenATP Dalibor Svrcina also moved into the second round. The Czech ousted Briton Paul Jubb 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 and will next take on Argentine Nicolas Kicker.

There were a slew of final-set tie-breaks contested at Melbourne Park. Nicolas Jarry outlasted Otto Virtanen 5-7, 7-4, 7-6 (10-6), Gianluca Mager battled past Filip Misolic 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(10-6), Adrian Andreev clawed past Francesco Maestrelli 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(10-5) and Frenchman Enzo Couacaud found a way past countryman Hugo Grenier 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(10-3).

Brandon Holt, who made a splash by reaching the second round of the US Open main draw as a qualifier, rallied past third seed Radu Albot 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The American will face Portugal’s Gastao Elias in the next round.

In other action, top seed Alejandro Tabilo defeated Nikola Milojevic 6-0, 6-2 in 68 minutes and seventh seed Hugo Gaston won 6-1, 6-1 against Egor Gerasimov.