The Essentials With Morgan Riddle: Courtside Fashion, Maximalist Packing and the Best Lip Gloss

Morgan Riddle was working behind the scenes in media when she met her boyfriend, professional tennis player Taylor Fritz, during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. But as the Minnesota native traveled around the world to cheer on Fritz during his matches, her role within the industry quickly reversed. “I really fell into social media accidentally,” Riddle tells Observer of how she went from working in influencer marketing to becoming an influencer herself. “I’ve always liked getting dressed up, so I posted a TikTok getting ready for a tennis match one morning—not really thinking anything of it—and then my videos started to do well.” Eight months later, Riddle turned social media into her full-time job, posting her courtside looks to a following of more than 500,000 on social media and bringing new fans to the sport of tennis in the process. “I didn’t really have a mission at first, but it kind of morphed into this thing of introducing tennis to a younger audience,” she says. 

Riddle’s get-ready-with-me videos have collectively accrued millions of views as she chronicles her looks from tennis events such as the Monte-Carlo Masters to the Japan Open. And while she often turns to Pinterest to help curate her looks, Riddle, who counts Kate Middleton and Kendall Jenner as her style icons, is really just dressing for herself. “I always wear bright colors, and florals, and dresses, whether I’m at a match or doing something else,” she says, adding that Australia has become her favorite shopping destination for her summer-inspired style. “When I’m going to Australia, I basically don’t pack anything in my suitcase because they have incredible shopping. If you go to a mall in the U.S., you’ve got H&M, Zara, Aritzia. But if you go to a mall in Melbourne, you have maybe 30 smaller labels you’ve never heard of before, or you have Dissh and Bec + Bridge and Kookaï.”

Riddle also shares behind the scenes peeks into her life on the tennis circuit, and has become one of the more recognizable faces in the stands, where she’s often spotted cheering on Fritz (he’s currently ranked the No. 12 men’s tennis player in the world)—she was even dubbed “The Most Famous Woman in Men’s Tennis” by the New York Times.

As her social media presence has grown, so, too, has Riddle’s involvement with the sport. Last year, she was hired by Wimbledon to host a video series highlighting the fashion looks seen on other attendees of the tennis tournament. Riddle has had partnerships with both luggage brand Monos and Fenty Beauty, and at this year’s U.S. Open, Riddle is teaming up with big-name brands like Boss, Wilson and David Yurman on the court, and hosting an event with Fenty Beauty separate from the tournament. She also 

She’ll also be sticking around for New York Fashion Week—her second season attending. “This time last year, the fashion world was still pretty new to me,” says Riddle, who has since worked with Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton. “I’ve spent the last year learning as much as I can about different designers and fashion houses. I have a list of dream shows and presentations, but Khaite, Miu Miu, Sandy Liang, Tory Burch and Michael Kors are probably my top five.”

Fresh off the plane to New York City for the U.S. Open (and New York Fashion Week), Riddle shared her current essentials with Observer, from her pared-down skincare routine to her go-to luggage.

Morning skincare routine:

I have to keep it pretty simple. Right now, I use PanOxyl because it’s the only face wash that keeps my skin from breaking out, and then I’m using the Ole Henriksen Peptide Boost Moisturizer.

Her wellness routine:

For the most part, it’s a mix of Pilates and Barry’s. I switch it up quite a bit, but I stay pretty active; I probably walk 20,000 steps a day, and I try to go to a class through ClassPass once a day, as well.

Tennis match must-haves:

My go-to bag is the Louis Vuitton Neverfull. I always have my Fenty Gloss Bomb Heat in Hot Cherry—that’s been my lip routine for over three years. And I always have the little Fenty pressed blotting powder, sunglasses, my vlogging camera for YouTube, and headphones so I can edit or watch TikTok when I’m waiting for matches to start in the players’ lounge.

What she’s binge-watching:

I just got caught up on The Boys on Amazon Prime. I think I binge-watched four seasons in under a month, which is kind of embarrassing, but I absolutely loved it. It’s really gory and definitely dark in some ways, but it’s also so funny.

Favorite vacation spot:

I don’t know if I can really call it a vacation, but we go to Tokyo on the tour. That’s Taylor’s favorite place to go, and we always have fun there. And then I would love to go back to the Maldives and stay at the One & Only. We went in maybe 2020, and it was very dreamy.

What she’s traveling with:

I’m not a minimalist packer at all, so I do two checked bags that are each 70 pounds every time. I just got the aluminum-style Monos luggage that I brought to New York, and the tote bag that I’m traveling with right now is also from Monos. I’m fully committing to the Dr. Dennis Gross LED light therapy mask, so I always make sure that I have that with me. Every time I’m on a flight now, I use it as naptime. I would not be able to survive without an eye mask and noise-canceling headphones that I put on over my earplugs so that I can’t hear a thing.

Los Angeles favorites:

Every morning, I walk to Ministry Of Coffee, because the coffee is Australian. Melbourne is known for having the best coffee in the world, and it’s true, so I love that I was able to find an Australian coffee shop that’s walking distance from me. Taylor and I also really love to Uber Eats the breakfast burritos from Dialog Cafe, which is a pretty popular spot, and then we’ll go to dinner at Matsuhisa or Katsuya—we ordered Katsuya on our first date, so we go back there quite a bit.

The one thing in her wardrobe she refuses to part with:

I always do purges of my closet, but I have a really hard time getting rid of sweatshirts. I actually have a closet in my apartment that’s only sweatshirts and hoodies. I have maybe 50, but there’s just no reason for me to get rid of them.