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‘Sweet angel’: Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend gushes over rival’s sweet act

Andrey Rublev booked a fourth round clash with Alex de Minaur but a moment in his match has caught the eye of a rival’s partner.

Just Rublev being a "sweet angel". Photo: Getty Images
Just Rublev being a "sweet angel". Photo: Getty Images

Men’s fifth seed Andrey Rublev booked a round of 16 clash with Alex de Minaur with his straight sets win on Friday night, but he also won over the girlfriend of American rival Taylor Fritz.

The 26-year-old Russian was ruthless, ousting 29th seed Sebastian Korda in a straight sets demolition but it was a sweet act early in the match.

Leading 3-2 in the first set and after a change of ends, Rublev prepared to receive when he noticed a cricket was on the court.

The critter proved elusive, dodging the world No. 5.

The commentators said: “If that cricket doesn’t behave, it might see the underside of a size 10 Nike shoe.”

But the Russian persisted and with the help of a pair of ballkids, got the cricket off the court.

The sweet moment didn’t escape Rublev’s potential semi-final opponent Taylor Fritz.

Fritz’s girlfriend Morgan Riddle, who has been dubbed the “first lady of tennis”, posted a video of the couple watching the moment on her Instagram.

“That’s a cricket — just kill it dude,” Fritz said.

“Taylor, Stop, don’t say that. He’s being a sweet angel,” Riddle said.

As the cricket continued to evade Rublev, Fritz said: “Now he’s just like f**king throwing it around — he doesn’t give a f**k,” Fritz said as the pair laughed.

Riddle and Fritz. Photo: Getty Images
Riddle and Fritz. Photo: Getty Images
Rublev. Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images
Rublev. Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images

The 2024 Australian Open has seen plenty of wildlife breaks with crickets and seagulls playing their part.

In her first round clash, Emma Raducanu called in a ballkid to save the day with a cricket going off.

The ballkid needed a towel to get it off the court after failing to catch it with her hands.

Raducanu shared a video of the incident, writing: “It’s true what they say about the (crickets) here – way too good from the ball girl.”

Rublev did the right thing. Photo: Channel 9
Rublev did the right thing. Photo: Channel 9

But not to be outdone, the seagulls have stopped several matches as well.

Two matches were stopped by seagulls on day two of the tournament.

A bird landed on the court during the clash between Felix Auger-Aliassime and needed a ballkid to chase it away.

Minutes later on court 3, a seagull then stopped the clash between Jan-Lennard Struff and Rinky Hijikata on match point.

Then on Wednesday during Stefanos Tsitsipas’ round two clash with Aussie Jordan Thompson, a seagull circling the court did laps just above the court.

While fans had a field day mocking Thompson, who had called the Australian Open the “wokest tournament ever” over a new rule, the Aussie did the sporting thing, telling the umpire it should be a first serve for Tsitsipas.

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/tennis/sweet-angel-taylor-fritzs-girlfriend-gushes-over-rivals-sweet-act/news-story/3c04a6909ecae10624bcb17f7f7e6eb9