If she’s true to her word, the partner of American tennis star Taylor Fritz, Morgan Riddle, will eat an entire jar of Vegemite.
The Instagram influencer has been dating world No.12 Fritz for over three years, and has been described by The New York Times as “the most famous woman in men’s tennis”.
Riddle says she travels 40 weeks of the year to be by Fritz’s side in his players’ box, and she’s getting a figurative taste for Australia right now at the first grand slam of the year, Down Under.
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Well — she’s about to get a taste of it in a literal sense too, after promising her 216,000 Instagram followers before Fritz’s fourth-round clash with Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas that she would eat an entire jar of Vegemite if he won.
“If @taylor_fritz wins again ill eat a jar of vegemite on (Instagram) live,” she wrote.
Fritz had only a brief moment of instability against the world No.7 on Sunday night, when he lost the second set, in an otherwise dominant performance to progress through to the last eight for the first time in Australia with a 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win.
He will now meet 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic for a place in the semis, but that is the least of Riddle’s worries, who was jovially called out in Fritz’s post-match interview.
The John Cain Arena Arena crowd were in stitches of laughter when a jar of Vegemite was brought out onto the court and Adam Peacock told Fritz that, “A bet’s a bet”.
“This is a big jar, but…,” Fritz said with a smile, before trailing off and looking over to Riddle for a response.
Suggesting that maybe her eyes were bigger than her stomach, Riddle gestured for a smaller jar of the famously salty and polarising Australian spread.
“I’ll give it to her, thanks,” Fritz said.
“I won’t be partaking, but I’ll make sure it happens.”
Peacock then asked: “Have you ever tried that stuff?”
“I have, yeah,” Fritz responded.
Peacock: “And… there won’t be a second time, I’m guessing?”
Fritz: “I wasn’t the biggest fan, no.”
Fan raced to the post where Riddle made the Vegemite promise, one commenting: “Looking forward to the live”, which was quickly liked by a number of others who had the same idea.
The fun and games will quickly end though as Fritz prepares to play a man that he has never beaten in Djokovic.
Despite his 0-8 record against the legendary Serbian though, Fritz is more confident than ever of beating him.
Fritz pushed 24-time major champion Djokovic to five sets when the pair met in a unique third-round clash at Melbourne Park in 2021.
In bizarre scenes, all fans were ordered to clear out of Rod Laver Arena mid-match because of the Victorian government’s snap COVID-19 lockdown starting at midnight.
“A lot of these match-ups were when I was a bit younger,’‘ he said.
“Since then I’m improved and (have) become a better player.
“The times I’ve played him since I haven’t really brought my best level, and you need to if you’re going to compete with someone like Novak.
“I feel confident. If I’m able to play like I did (against Tsitispas) then I’m a chance.”