Coco Gauff’s semifinal match at the U.S. Open suffered a lengthy delay when three environmental protesters, wearing shirts that read “end fossil fuels,” stood up and begin chanting, interrupting the match. Two were removed quietly but another, who had glued his feet to the floor, had refused to leave.
Gauff was dumbfounded. She went over and spoke with her team and could be heard asking if she could leave the court. The answer, for that moment, was “No.”
“They’re on the phone negotiating,” she was overheard saying. “It’s like a hostage situation.”
Gauff and her opponent Karolina Muchova were later allowed to leave the court and collect themselves.
Broadcasters Chrissy Evert and Cliff Drysdale were left to fill the time, speculating about the impact the delay would have on the players and when they’d get back to the court. The duo was 50 minutes into the match when play was interrupted.
Finally, after an equally long 50-minute delay, the match resumed with Gauff up one game in the second set after winning the first. She went on to win what turned out to be an epic match and move on to her first career U.S. Open final.
At Wimbledon this year, matches were delayed by environmental activists who leapt from the stands and scattered orange confetti on the grass.
At a U.S. Open tune-up event last month, about a dozen people began chanting and flashing signs decrying the use of fossil fuels.