Coco Gauff through to first US Open final after protest disrupts semi-final

Coco Gauff had a premonition that climate change protesters would disrupt a match at the US Open.

Gauff is through to her first US Open final, but only after her last-four showdown against Karolina Muchova was suspended for more than 45 minutes when a protester glued his feet to the floor in the stands.

American teenager Gauff’s 6-4 7-5 victory was overshadowed by a small group of spectators wearing T-shirts bearing the words ‘end fossil fuels’ who began shouting, forcing play to be stopped.

Gauff and Czech 10th seed Muchova initially stayed on the court for about 10 minutes while security tried to deal with the situation.

The Arthur Ashe crowd at one point began chanting “kick them out” with the protesters apparently being difficult to shift despite being surrounded by around 12 police officers.

It soon became apparent that while three of the protesters had been removed, a fourth had glued his bare feet to the concrete.

“Are they like talking to them or are they going to remove them?” Gauff asked chair umpire Alison Hughes and tournament referee Jake Garner.

NYPD are in the process of resolving a fan disturbance. Play will resume as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience.

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2023

She then spoke to her coach, Brad Gilbert, saying “they say they are negotiating, like it’s a hostage situation. What should I do?”

Gilbert was then heard to shout at Garner: “This is a joke, Jake.”

Both players eventually left the court with Gauff leading 6-4 1-0. They returned at 8.50pm when the third protester had finally been removed, and after a warm-up, play resumed 50 minutes after the last point.

Speaking to ESPN, tournament director Stacey Allaster said: “As we witnessed we had environment