Robert Deutsch/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Three protesters derailed the US Open semi-final between American sensation Coco Gauff and her Czech opponent Karolina Muchova on Thursday night, at one point prompting a frustrated crowd to chant “kick them out.”
The protesters, who had environmental messages written on their shirts, started shouting from the bleachers in the middle of the first game of the second set. Security officials removed two of them promptly but the situation dragged on as the third protester refused to budge and NYPD officers were called in.
U.S. Tennis Association chief executive Stacey Allaster told ESPN that third protester had “physically glued themselves in their bare feet to the cement floor.”