On Thursday night, a match at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York was cut short due to yelling by anti-climate change demonstrators.
At 8:05 p.m. ET, when demonstrators seemed to be yelling about climate change, the Coco Gauff/Karolina Muchova match was postponed. They had shirts on that said, “End Fossil Fuels.”
According to The Associated Press, one of the demonstrators taped his feet to a concrete floor.
The Gauff-Muchova match was called off during the opening game of the second set due to a protest by four fans, the U.S. Tennis Association said in a statement late on Thursday.
Three of the four protesters were removed from the stadium without more incident. The fourth protester fastened their bare feet to the ground of the seating bowl. According to the statement, “NYPD and medical professionals were forced to securely remove this individual from the stadium due to the gravity of this behavior.
The NYPD detained four demonstrators, according to the USTA.
After the 49-minute pause in action, play continued.
The tournament’s tennis match earlier this week saw a spectator expelled after German player Alexander Zverev accused him of using a word from Adolf Hitler’s Nazi dictatorship.
Zverev reportedly responded to the umpire, “He said the most famous Hitler sentence to me. “He just said the most well-known Hitler quote there is. That is not acceptable. I can’t believe this.
The umpire instantly spun around to question the spectators and request his identification.
James Keothavong, the chair umpire, commanded, “Put your hand up.” Who uttered that? Who uttered that? Who uttered that? He will be removed by us.
Security personnel were quickly summoned to remove the fan after he was reportedly recognized by spectators who sitting nearby. As the man was led by security out of the arena, the audience applauded.
