US Open women’s semifinal halted by climate protest

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Open women’s semifinal was halted for nearly 50 minutes Thursday due to a protest by a group of climate activists.

Several spectators stood up while some of the activists were shouting about “environmental issues" during the second set of the semifinal between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, according to reports.

Calling it a “fan-related” incident, the US Open said in a statement that one attendee “affixed himself to the floor and due to the nature of this action, medical professionals, NYPD and security personnel were needed in order to resolve the issue and remove the fan from the stands.”

The protester glued his bare feet to the concrete floor while security officers went over to confront the protestors, who were wearing T-shirts that read "End Fossil Fuels."

According to US Tennis Association chief executive Stacey Allaster, who spoke to ESPN, two of the three protestors were “quietly removed while the other protester glued his bare feet to the floor.”

“There’s no doubt in a 24,000-seat stadium, hopefully, people don’t get ideas,” Allaster said, adding: “We know in these large events, environmental protestors use the platform. Certainly, security will be resuming – along with NYPD – to see what we can do to prevent it in the future.”

The match continued after a nearly 50-minute delay.