US Edition
By Simon Briggs, Tennis Correspondent, in New York
Coco Gauff held her nerve to close out a bizarre semi-final that suffered a lengthy delay on account of a climate-change protest in the stands.
Play stopped for 49 minutes while policemen and stadium security dealt with one protestor who had glued his bare feet to the concrete.
But while the fans might have been disgruntled by the hold-up – and the disappointingly slow response by officials – there was also an upside. The incident helped turn what had been a dismal match into something much more entertaining.
Play had been halted one game into the second set, after a first set that was blighted by an avalanche of unforced errors: Most of them had come from the racket of Gauff’s opponent, Czech No2 Karolina Muchova, who came out on court wearing a sleeve to support a sore right elbow. Happily, though, Muchova used the unscheduled interruption to her advantage.
After Muchova’s coaches had given her a pep-talk during the break, she came back with a much clearer strategy. Having been both passive and erratic, she was now looking to come forward and dictate play with her volleys. It was surely no coincidence that her shot-making improved from the back of the court as well.
Meanwhile Gauff was also showing greater intent to get to the net, perhaps thinking that she needed to get there first in order to take that option away from Muchova. From a shaky start, the match developed into a mighty spectacle. The fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium all but combusted when one rally found both women run back to retrieve lobs before Gauff eventually snatched the point with a scorching forehand pass.
Gauff’s forehand has always had the potential to self-destruct at any moment, and this was the question as we moved into the final stretch. Would her wristy swing – which sees her flick the strings through late, in a motion that requires perfect timing – hold up under pressure? To her credit, she refused to back off on that side, firing a succession of heavy, rearing crosscourt blows that made it difficult for Muchova to advance.
There were some significant mistakes as well. Gauff was broken when she served for the match, and saw five match points come and go before she finally took her opportunity. During that heady sequence, the players fought out an all-court rally which – at 40 shots – was the longest of the tournament in either men’s or women’s draw.
After the match, Gauff admitted that she had anticipated a climate protest over the final stages of this tournament – but had expected that it would come in the final rather than the semi-final.
Yet she stopped short of criticising the protestors. “I think that throughout history moments like this are definitely defining moments,” said the 19-year-old Gauff, who had just become the youngest woman to reach the US Open final since her idol Serena Williams in 1999.
“I definitely believe in climate change. 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 per cent. I’m not gonna sit here and lie. But I wasn’t pissed at the protesters. I know the stadium was, because it just interrupted entertainment.
“I always speak about preaching about what you feel and what you believe in. 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 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.”
