Chaos as climate protesters disrupt Coco Gauff semifinal at US Open, glueing feet to floor

At least one protester glued their feet to the floor in the stands of the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City

A demonstrator is removed from the Arthur Ashe Stadium by New York City Police (REUTERS)

Chaotic scenes unfolded as climate protesters interrupted Coco Gauff’s US Open semifinal against Karolina Muchova with at least one person glueing their feet to the floor in the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands.

Gauff was ahead 6-4, 1-0 when play was halted for around 49 minutes as security tried to remove the protesters.

The group was wearing shirts that read “End Fossil Fuels” and at least one person glued their feet making their removal difficult, a spokesperson for the US Tennis Association told The Associated Press.

At least two people were taken away by police officers, who were cheered by the New York crowd who had chanted “Kick them out” as the disruption went on.

Gauff sat in her seat on the sideline and ate fruit before hitting some practice serves, while Muchova was seen by a trainer. Eventually, both players headed back towards the locker room with Gauff chatting to members of her team until the disruption was handled.

The US Open became the latest sports event to be impacted by climate protesters railing against the use of fossil fuels.

Members of the group of protesters were wearing shirts that read ‘End Fossil Fuels’ (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

At Wimbledon in July, two matches were interrupted when activists got onto Court 18 and threw orange confetti on the grass.

Fossil fuel protester is dragged out by security at the #USOpen. Match has been delayed over 10 minutes and counting. pic.twitter.com/zsbif0tfnd

— Ben Nagle (@bennagle17) September 8, 2023

The All-England club announced that the protester, along with another wearing shirts reading “Just Stop Oil,” were arrested “on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage.”

Coco Gauff reacts as protesters disrupt her match against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic (Manu Fernandez)

The Just Stop Oil group has also protested at cricket, soccer and rugby matches, as well as at the World Snooker Championship. Just Stop Oil describes itself as a “nonviolent civil resistance group demanding the UK Government stop licensing all new oil, gas and coal projects.”

Gauff, a 19-year-old American, and Muchova, a 27-year-old from the Czech Republic, were both playing in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the first time.

New York City police officers move in to stop the protest (EPA)

The other women’s semifinal, between Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Madison Keys of the United States, was set to begin after Gauff vs. Muchova finished.

The Associated Press contributed to this report