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Coco Gauff after her victory
Photo: WILL OLIVER / EPA
The American tennis star Coco Gauff has reached the final at the US Open for the first time after a long interruption due to a protest by environmental activists. The 19-year-old prevailed 6-4, 7-5 against Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic on Thursday evening (local time).
In a high-class game, Gauff converted her sixth match point after more than two hours. She will now meet the winner of the duel between her compatriot Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
For the sixth in the world rankings, it is the second entry into a major final after the French Open 2022. Six years after the triumph of Sloane Stephens, Gauff is also nourishing hopes of a US home victory in Flushing Meadows. "When I was growing up, I watched this tournament so often. That means a lot to me," said Gauff, who thanked the audience: "The job is not done yet."
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The first semi-final was interrupted for almost 50 minutes. When the score was 6-4, 1-0 for Gauff, several environmental activists shouted slogans in the upper tier of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, one of them glued himself to the floor of the stands, according to the organizers. Pictures showed them wearing T-shirts with "End Fossil Fuels" printed on them. The man, who had glued himself, was only taken away by police officers after a long time.
"When the security forces arrived, a person had glued himself to the ground with bare feet," tournament director Stacey Allaster told ESPN, explaining the long interruption. The New York police and medical staff were necessary to remove the person from the stadium, it said.
In the meantime, there had been an announcement in the stadium that "a problem in the spectator area" would be solved and that the game should be resumed as soon as possible. Gauff first practiced a few serves, Muchova was treated. Both players then went to the catacombs of the largest tennis stadium in the world. Numerous spectators chanted in the direction of the protesters: "Throw them out".
After almost 45 minutes, the players returned to the pitch to the cheers of the spectators and warmed up again.
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