Coco Gauff game suspended : NEW YORK — The US Open semifinal between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was stopped for 49 minutes because of four environmental protestors in the upper deck of Arthur Ashe Stadium, three of whom were photographed wearing T-shirts that said “End Fossil Fuels.” The shirts appeared to be associated with the UK-based.
The protestors made their presence known just before the second game of the second set, breaking the quiet with a loud chant as Muchova went to serve the first point.
At first, there was confusion in the stadium as people tried to find where the disturbance was coming from. Players were instructed to return to their chairs as the protestors were identified, standing in solidarity as several security team members surrounded them.
But there seemed to be some difficulty in removing them, and as the delay dragged on fans at one point began chanting “Get them out, get them out.”
Final-bound: Coco Gauff navigates delay created by environmental protestors, reaches US Open final
At roughly the 15-minute mark of the delay, Gauff got up and began hitting a few serves, then went to speak with her coaching box. Muchova left the court and Gauff followed shortly after that.
One protestor glued themselves to the cement floor, per tournament director Stacey Allaster, which led to the significant delay. That protestor was finally removed around the 38-minute mark of the delay.
Coco Gauff game suspended : Three of the four protesters were escorted out of the stadium without further incident. The fourth protester affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl. Due to the nature of this action, NYPD and medical personnel were needed to remove this individual from the stadium safely,” the USTA said in a statement, adding: “The four protesters were taken into NYPD custody.”
In a press release sent to USA TODAY Sports, Extinction Rebellion said their activists “warned that there is ‘no tennis on a dead planet.'”
“Tennis-as-usual won’t be possible on a planet where humanity fails to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. If activists don’t disrupt these games, the climate will,” Extinction Rebellion wrote.
Gauff was leading 6-4, 1-0 at the time of the delay. She went on to win the match, 6-4, 7-5.
Contributing: Jace Evans
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What happened during Coco’s match?
The headlining moment happened an hour into the match when a protester in an “End Fossil Fuels” T-shirt glued his bare feet to the concrete floor of Arthur Ashe Stadium and stopped play for nearly 50 minutes as NYPD officers and medical personnel figured out how to remove the man from his seat.
Why isn t Coco Gauff playing?
Gauff announced Sunday she was withdrawing from this week’s Zhengzhou Open tournament in China because of a shoulder injury that bothered her during a loss to Swiatek at the China Open semifinals last week.
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