- Four climate protesters were detained by the police after disrupting a US Open semifinal match.
- Police and medical personnel took a while to remove one protester who glued his feet to the floor.
- One protester said they had “nothing against” tennis but were just lobbying for their cause.
US Open fans had to sit through a 50-minute delay after climate protesters disrupted a semifinal match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova.
Four climate protesters were demonstrating against some of the US Open’s sponsors, who they said were contributing to the climate crisis, per the Associated Press. All four protesters had donned T-shirts with the words “End Fossil Fuels” emblazoned. One protester also glued his feet to the floor.
“We are not trying to harm the athletes in any way. We have nothing against the sport,” a protester, who said his name was Ian, told the AP.
“But we are really trying to draw attention to an issue here that there will be no tennis left for anybody in the world to enjoy,” Ian continued.
The US Tennis Association told the AP that three of the protesters were later escorted out of the premises.
“The fourth protester affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl,” the association said in a statement to the BBC. “Due to the nature of this action, NYPD and medical personnel were needed in order to safely remove this individual from the stadium.”
All four protesters were detained by the police.
Gauff and Muchova were midway through their second set when the match was halted.
Muchova told the AP that she initially thought the protesters were “like, fans screaming, cheering.”
“Obviously I don’t want it to happen when I’m winning up 6-4, 1-0, and I wanted the momentum to keep going,” Gauff told the AP after winning the match 6-4, 7-5.
“But hey, if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can’t really get upset at it,” she continued.
This isn’t the first time climate activists have disrupted tennis tournaments. In July, three protesters at the Wimbledon Championships were charged after flinging confetti and jigsaw puzzle pieces onto the court, per the BBC.
Representatives for the US Open did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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