Taylor Fritz has finally achieved something that has eluded him in his past four Grand Slams – a quarterfinal victory. After defeating fourth seed Alexander Zverev at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday, the American will go up against friend and fellow countryman Frances Tiafoe. While Fritz’s coach Michael Russell and his girlfriend Morgan Riddle have been a consistent presence in the player’s box right through the US Open, there is also another lady with Fritz’s team. Who is that?

Michael Russell, the former No. 60 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, has taken Taylor Fritz to new heights slowly and steadily as his coach. And, like he’s been doing for the last week and a half, he will be present to watch Fritz play against Tiafoe. So will Morgan Riddle, the ATP star’s influence girlfriend. But other than the player’s better half, the coach’s better half will also be found in Taylor Fritz’s box!

Along with Fritz’s team, there’s Mrs. Russell, aka Lilly, the wife of Michael Russell. A former fitness competitor, Lilly Russell has been on Tour with her husband since his playing days. As the story goes, it was love at first sight for the couple! “He looked at me up in the stands, then he threw me a ball with his number on it and that was is it!” Lilly told Kelsey Anderson, another tennis WAG, for The Changeover, in 2015.

“Haha, okay, not quite, but it sure was love at first sight. I actually met Mike through a mutual friend (Niclas Kroon), who is also a former ATP player, while Mike was playing in the men’s clay court tournament here in Houston.”

When Russell was an active player, his wife was also actively competing in her own field. They both traveled, but a tennis player’s season is longer than most. “I was lucky to have a job that allowed me to travel up to 10 weeks a year, but that still wasn’t enough time when you consider how many weeks Mike was on the road.  After five years of juggling my work and travel, we ultimately decided that the long distance relationship wasn’t for us and that we needed to experience the travels and adventures together every day,” said Lilly.

Lilly Russell also has an Instagram page called The Food and Body Connection. The bio states, “Lilly *Inspired Chef *Former Fitness Competitor. Cooking from the heart, not a book” If it wasn’t clear yet, the page is full of pictures from Chef Lilly’s kitchen of healthy recipes!

Interestingly, when her husband was still Touring as a player, Lilly donned the hat for numerous roles to support him, including a cook. “I was his physiotherapist as much as I could be. I would also help him organize details such as packing and unpacking. I was the cook when we had a kitchen,” the former fitness competitor told The Changeover.

While her role back then included doing anything and everything to make her husband’s work easier, it was not the only role she played as a tennis WAG. Much like how today’s wives and girlfriends are bringing in a wave of change, Lilly brought about a change in her own time.

Before Taylor Fritz’s famous girlfriend Morgan Riddle, there was Lilly Russell

Tennis WAGs have always received a lot of attention on the Tour. Morgan Riddle, the girlfriend of Taylor Fritz, has taken the tennis world by storm as the ‘most famous woman in men’s tennis’ these last few years. But before her, from the O.G. era, there was Lilly Russell.

At tennis tournaments, outfits, both on and off the court, get a lot of attention as compared to most other sports. But Russell feels she played a hand in making those off-court dresses more comfortable. “One area I do feel like I changed a little was the way us wives and girlfriends dressed on non-match days,” she said to The Changeover.

“When I started traveling on the tour, every single wife or girlfriend would be dressed up and looking great every day, but you could tell it was so uncomfortable, or at least it was for me! I took the risk to start dressing more sporty, which is totally me, and after a few years, the trend caught on. And why not? It’s the day off!”

Maybe Lilly served as an inspiration to Taylor Fritz’s girlfriend as well. Who knows? One thing is for sure – Lilly might have been a former athlete in her own right like her husband, but today both the Russells are connected to tennis via Fritz. And as long as this relationship sustains, which does not show any signs of ending anytime soon, we might spot Lilly Russell in Taylor Fritz’s box alongside Michael quite often.