Protestors interrupted the U.S. Open.
But they couldn’t stop Coco Gauff and her inexorable march toward her first Grand Slam title.
The American teen phenomenon ground out a 6-4, 7-5 semifinal victory over Karolina Muchova on Thursday, a match delayed by almost 50 minutes due to a group of climate change protestors in the loge section of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Four people were removed and given trespass notices. One even glued his bare feet to the concrete floor, with security and law enforcement taking well over half an hour to figure out how to pry him away.
But on the court, Gauff’s feet were as fleet as ever. The 19-year-old chased down ball after ball from Muchova, that athletic defense contributing to 17 unforced errors in the first set by the 10th-seeded Czech. Gauff broke Muchova’s very first service game, ran out to a 5-1 first-set lead and held on.
The second set was more of a grind, whether because of Muchova finding her game or Gauff losing hers amid the lengthy delay. The last hour was world championship tennis and Gauff came out on top.
“Thank you guys so much. Some of those points it was so loud, I don’t know if my ears are going to be OK. But thank you guys, it was crazy,” Gauff said in an on-court TV interview. “I grew up watching this tournament; it means so much to me to be in the finals. But the job is not done. Hopefully you guys can back me on Saturday.”
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It was as grueling as a straight-set win can be. Asked what her plans were after the victory, she replied, “Press. Treatment. Watch some anime,” adding that she watched hours of “My Hero Academia” before the match.
Whatever she did worked.
Following a first-round loss at Wimbledon, Gauff added renowned Brad Gilbert to her coaching team.
The results have been immediate and impressive, going 16-1 since with tourney wins at D.C. and Cincinnati, beating Muchova in the latter final.
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Gauff did so again Thursday, moving into the final against the winner of the other semifinal between American Madison Keys and second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka.
Early in the second set with Gauff leading 6-4, 1-0, play was interrupted for 49 minutes 45 seconds by a group of fans wearing “End Climate Change” shirts..
“We had environmental protestors up in the loge area. We had three, two were removed, quietly left,” tournament director Stacey Allaster told ESPN. “When security got there, they found one of the protestors had physically glued himself by his bare feet to the cement floor.
“There’s no doubt in a 24,000-seat stadium people get ideas. We know environmental protestors use the platform [of events like this]. Certainly security will be resuming — along with law enforcement — to see what we can do to prevent it in the future.”
