Coco Gauff reaches first US Open final after lengthy climate change protest

FLASHBACK: Relive the moment Gauff reached the Western & Southern Open final last month.

NEW YORK—Coco Gauff showed nerves of steel to reach her first US Open final amid raucous conditions and a lengthy climate change protest on Arthur Ashe Stadium, edging past Karolina Muchova, 6-4, 7-5.

In a match between the last two Roland Garros finalists—Gauff in 2022, Muchova in 2023—the No. 6 and No. 10 seeds were sent off court early in the second set after a protestor glued his feet to the upper deck.

"It was a bit challenging, because, you know, it's not like a typical delay," Gauff said after the match. "So, we didn't know how long it was going to take. We were talking to the supervisor and security. You know, they could say it could be as quick as five minutes or as long as an hour.

"It was tough to figure out if we stay warm or conserve energy. You know, after, like, 10 minutes of waiting inside I decided to change my clothes and eat a bar. But, you know, it's life. It happens. So I just try my best to keep the momentum that I had going from winning the first set and the first game."

Through a delay totaling just about 50 minutes, Gauff emerged in as fine form as ever to reach her second major final after two hours hours and two minutes of action on Thursday evening, making her the youngest American to reach a US Open final since Serena Williams in 1999.

Awaiting her in the final will be No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated 2017 finalist Madison Keys, 0-6, 7-6, 7-6.

Gauff came to her home major tournament with plenty of momentum this summer, having won tournaments at the Mubadala Citi DC Open and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. In the latter, she scored her first win over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in eight meetings en route to her first WTA 1000 title, the biggest thus far in her young career.

Despite three-setters in three of her first four matches in Flushing Meadows against Laura Siegemund, Elise Mertens, and Caroline Wozniacki, the teenager rounded into form in some style by the second week, dropping just two games to avenge an Australian Open defeat to 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko and book a Cincinnati final rematch with Muchova.

Muchova is coming off a resurgence of her own; having dealt with numerous injuries throughout her career, the Czech all-courter came into her own in Paris by defeating world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka to reach her first Grand Slam final. She backed up that result with another win over Sabalenka in Cincinnati and largely rolled through her sixth career main-draw appearance at the US Open—dropping just one set in the fourth round to Wang Xinyu.

It was Gauff, however, who enjoyed the quicker start in kicking off semifinal action on Arthur Ashe Stadium, racing ahead 5-1 before Muchova, sporting a compression sleeve over a previously taped right arm, began to get into the match.

Twice breaking Gauff as she served for the set, a loose game from the 27-year-old handed Gauff the opener. Muchova was stepping to the line to serve two games later when the protest began: three people in the upper deck of the stadium stood up and started shouting to boos from surrounding spectators. Though two left “without incident,” a third had superglued his feet to the ground, requiring medical assistance in addition to NYPD presence to resolve the issue.

"I definitely, I believe, you know, in climate change," affirmed Gauff, speaking in support of the protestors' perceived environmental aims. "I 100% believe in that. I think there are things we can do better. I know the tournaments are doing things to do better for the environment. Would I prefer it not happening in my match? 100%, yeah. I'm not gonna sit here and lie. But it is what it is.

"I always speak about preaching, you know, preaching about what you feel and what you believe in," she added. "It was done in a peaceful way, so I can't get too mad at it. 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. 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."

Gauff and Muchova resumed with little lapse in their quality of play, exchanging service holds through the next six games. Returning up 4-3 in the second set, Gauff nailed an impressive passing shot off her improved forehand win to engineer her second break chance of the set. A Muchova backhand into the net put Gauff on the brink of her second major final.

Muchova made a brave last stand as Gauff served for the match, rallying from match point down to level the set despite losing one of the best points of the match in the tenth game, but Gauff soon steadied with a hold of her own.

Gauff earned more match points just over 20 minutes after her first as Muchova missed long off the forehand side. Muchova saved four—one with an audacious winner down the line—but Gauff earned a sixth match point after a wild 40-shot rally, edging over the finish line with one last miss from Muchova.