Coco Gauff, Karolína Muchová US Open Semifinal Delayed 50 Minutes by Protestors
September 8, 2023
Three protestors in the upper rows of Arthur Ashe Stadium disrupted a U.S. Open semifinal match between Coco Gauff and Karolína Muchová for over 30 minutes Thursday night.
Two protestors chanting "end fossil fuels" were removed quickly, but one of them had glued his bare feet to the floor, according to The Athletic.
Telegraph Sport's Molly McElwee shared a video showing the final protestor being escorted from the stadium by NYPD officers.
The second set resumed after 50 minutes. Gauff had won the first set 6-4 and was leading 1-0 in the second when both players left the court due to the disruption.
As the delay continued, the crowd in the New York stadium began chanting, "Get them out," according to USA Today's Dan Wolken.
Early in the impromptu break, Gauff ate fruit and hit practice serves, while Muchová "briefly" spoke with a trainer, per the AP's Brian Mahoney and Howard Fendrich. Both players eventually went to the locker room.
The protestors were wearing shirts that read "End Fossil Fuels" and appeared to bear the logo of Extinction Rebellion, a grassroots environmental activism group based in the United Kingdom.
The group is known for attracting attention to their cause with publicly disruptive acts that have in the past included breaking bank windows and spraying fake blood on government buildings.
The protestors join a growing trend of climate activism at tennis competitions. Tennis matches at Wimbledon in July and the Washington Open in August were also disrupted by climate protestors.
At the U.S. Open, a match between Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka, which was set to begin following the completion of the contest between Gauff and Muchová, was also delayed by the protest.
The winners of the two Thursday night matches will face off in the U.S. Open women's singles championship Saturday.