Coco Gauff beat Czech Karolina Muchova and a 49-minute wait caused by a protester who glued his feet to the ground to get to the final of the U.S. Open.
Gauff, who is only 19, beat the 10th seed Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 in a match that was full of mistakes.
Gauff will play the winner of Thursday’s later semifinal between Number 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus & Number 17 seed Madison Keys of the US. That game will be played on Saturday.
Sabalenka will become No. 1 for the first time next week. In her first five matches, she lost only 21 games.
“There is a lot to be happy about, but the job isn’t done yet,” Gauff said.
After the first game of the second set, there was a 49-minute wait before the next game.
At least three protesters wearing T-shirts that said “End Fossil Fuels” caused a problem. At least one of the protesters stuck his feet to the cement floor, which caused the very long wait that made the players leave the court.
“The crazy thing is that when I woke up this morning, I told myself, ‘I bet there will be a protest about climate change in the final,'” Gauff said on ESPN, pointing out that there had been similar protests at the French Open and Wimbledon. “I didn’t think it would be in the final four.
” According to the guard, it could take up to five minutes. It might take an hour. I just thought of it as a delay due to rain.”
Before the break, neither player was playing well in the first set. Gauff was up 5-1, but was broken twice. Then, to win the game, he broke Muchova at love, which was Muchova’s fourth mistake.
Gauff won four points and made 12 mistakes by accident in the first set, which ended 13–25. Muchova finished with 15 to 35, with three wins and 17 mistakes.
Before the noise, Gauff held serve to start the second set. Early on in the wait, Muchova talked to two people who seemed to be medical workers.
After the break, the players held their serves until Gauff broke Muchova’s serve to go up 5-3. Gauff then lost a match point when he was broken while serving for the match. Then, after two games, on her sixth match point, she beat Muchova.
Gauff, who came in second at the French Open in 2022, is the youngest player since Maria Sharapova in 2006 to make a second Grand Slam singles final. Since Andrea Jaeger in 1983, she is the youngest American to reach two major finals.
Gauff, who lost the French Open final to then-No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-3, said, “When I played the final, I think I was too focused on the expectations that I had to win.” “I don’t think I believed in myself back then.”
Muchova, who is 27 years old, is at the top of her game after dropping out of the top 200 due to injuries in 2022.
She came in second at the French Open and lost to Gauff 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the last top-level event before the U.S. Open.
This was Gauff’s biggest win so far in her young career.
