Police escort a barefoot protester out of the stands during a match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova in the US Open women’s singles semifinals on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, in New York.
John Minchillo/AP
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John Minchillo/AP
Police escort a barefoot protester out of the stands during a match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova in the US Open women’s singles semifinals on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, in New York.
John Minchillo/AP
NEW YORK — The US Open semifinal between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova has been delayed 50 minutes due to a disruption caused by environmental activists in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night. A protester stuck his bare feet to the concrete floor.
Gauff was leading 6-4, 1-0 when play was stopped early in the second set.
Security guards and later more than half a dozen police officers approached to confront the three protesters, who were wearing shirts that read “End Fossil Fuels.” Two of the activists were expelled within minutes, but it took longer to evacuate the down to earth person.
Onlookers were told to move away to clear the way for police, who were cheered on by supporters seated near the section where the disturbance occurred.
Gauff sat on her bench for a while during the game break, eating fruit from a plastic container, before collecting tennis balls and hitting a few practice serves. Muchova was briefly visited by a coach during the hiatus.
Later, the two players headed to the locker room as the delay continued. Gauff sat on a treadmill, a towel in her lap, while chatting with her team members.
This is the latest in a recent string of protests at sporting events – and tennis in particular – linked to the use of fossil fuels.
At Wimbledon in July, two matches were interrupted when environmental activists jumped from the stands on Court 18 and scattered orange confetti on the grass.
At a US Open warm-up tournament in Washington last month, a dozen people were asked to leave the site after chanting and posting signs protesting the use of fossil fuels.
Gauff, a 19-year-old American, and Muchova, a 27-year-old Czech, were both making the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
Their match was the first of the evening. The other women’s semi-final, between Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and American Madison Keys, was due to start after Gauff finished against Muchova.
The two winners Thursday will face off Saturday for the women’s singles championship in Ashe.
USA News Gb1