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Coco Gauff is through to her first US Open final, but only after her last-four match against Karolina Muchova was suspended for more than 45 minutes when a protester glued his feet to the floor in the stands.<\/p>\n
American teenager Gauff\u2019s 6-4 7-5 victory was overshadowed by a small group of spectators wearing T-shirts bearing the words \u2018end fossil fuels\u2019 who began shouting, forcing play to be stopped.<\/p>\n
Gauff and Czech 10th seed Muchova initially stayed on the court for about 10 minutes while security tried to deal with the situation.<\/p>\n
The Arthur Ashe crowd at one point began chanting \u201ckick them out\u201d with the protesters apparently being difficult to shift despite being surrounded by around 12 police officers.<\/p>\n
It soon became apparent that while three of the protesters had been removed, a fourth had glued his bare feet to the concrete.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAre they like talking to them or are they going to remove them?\u201d Gauff asked chair umpire Alison Hughes and tournament referee Jake Garner.<\/p>\n
She then spoke to her coach, Brad Gilbert, saying \u201cthey say they are negotiating, like it\u2019s a hostage situation. What should I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilbert was then heard to shout at Garner: \u201cThis is a joke, Jake.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Speaking to ESPN, tournament director Stacey Allaster said: \u201cAs we witnessed we had environment protesters up in the loge area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were three. Two were removed. They quietly left. When security got there they found one of the protesters had physically glued himself, his bare feet, to the cement floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
A statement from the USTA read: \u201cFollowing the first game of the second set in the Gauff-Muchova match, play was halted due to a protest conducted by four spectators.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the nature of this action, NYPD and medical personnel were needed in order to safely remove this individual from the stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe four protesters were taken into NYPD custody. In total, 49 minutes elapsed before play resumed.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not the first time a major tennis tournament has been disrupted by protesters.<\/p>\n
At Wimbledon this year Just Stop Oil activists caused two matches, one involving Britain\u2019s Katie Boulter, to be suspended after running onto the court throwing jigsaw pieces and confetti.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s French Open semi-final between Casper Ruud and Marin Cilic also had to be halted after a woman tied herself to the net.<\/p>\n
Both players at least seemed to be able to put the incident behind them when the match resumed.<\/p>\n
Muchova had treatment on what appeared to be an abdominal injury during the stoppage.<\/p>\n
The Czech 10th seed saved a match point on the Gauff serve and five more on her own in the next game.<\/p>\n
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But the 19-year-old converted at the sixth attempt when Muchova went long to reach her second grand slam final.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you guys this is crazy,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cI grew up watching this tournament so it means a lot to be in the final.\u201d<\/p>\n