"Something this morning told me" - Coco Gauff reveals she predicted there was going to be a climate change protest at US Open
The 2023 US Open semifinal between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova on Thursday, September 7, was brought to a halt after a couple of climate activists sitting among the spectators started protesting. After the match, Gauff said she saw it coming.
Gauff reached her second Grand Slam final after defeating Muchova 6-4, 7-5 in a closely fought contest that witnessed a 49-minute-long disruption. After the American No. 2 won the opening set and led the following set 1-0, three activists started shouting, "End fossil fuels," as the chair umpire was forced to stop the on-court proceedings.
After much tussling, the NYPD officials removed the protesting trio from the Arthur Ashe Stadium and both Gauff and Muchova returned to usual business.
Following her victory, the American interacted with ESPN to reflect on the controversial incident and said:
“The crazy thing is this morning, I told myself, ‘I bet there’s gonna be a climate change protest in the final'. I didn’t think it’d be in the semifinal."
The World No. 6 revealed that as soon as she heard the noise, she informed the chair umpire and even told her opponent that she foresaw it happening.
“Immediately when it happened, I told the ref it was a protest. Karolina asked me how I recognized it was a protest. I was like ‘I don’t know. Something this morning told me’,” Coco Gauff said.
The latest occurrence adds to the already long list of such protests at sporting events. Earlier this year at Wimbledon, activists from the 'Just Stop Oil' organization hindered the proceedings of two matches by throwing confetti on the court. Also, the Round-of-16 match between Andy Murray and Taylor Fritz witnessed similar scenes at the Citi Open in August this year.
Coco Gauff is the youngest American to reach US Open final after Serena Williams did it in 1999
With her victory over Karolina Muchova, Coco Gauff has become the youngest American to reach the US Open final since Serena Williams did it in 1999.
At the age of 18, Williams reached the US Open final and also defeated top seed Martina Hingis to win her first-ever Grand Slam title. Gauff now has the opportunity to repeat the feat on Saturday, September 9. A couple of days ago, she said she felt honored to be compared with the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
"It means a lot to me. I mean, being in any sentence with her is great. I mean, she's the greatest player of all time. You know, I'm nothing close to that yet. I'm just really honored to be in the same sentence as her," Coco Gauff said in a press conference at the 2023 US Open.
Gauff now awaits the winner of the second semifinal between compatriot Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka.