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The group “Extinction Rebellion” claimed credit for the protest. They used the slogan “no tennis on a dead planet” to call for an end to fossil fuels.
“Tennis-as-usual won’t be possible on a planet in which humanity fails to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. If activists don’t disrupt these games, the climate will,” the group said in a statement.
Extinction Rebellion, also known as XR, has carried out a number of civil disobedience style demonstrations over environmental concerns, starting in 2018 when they shut down bridges in central London.
Thursday’s protest is the latest public display from climate activists.
The Seven Circles Alliance recently blocked the sole route in and out of the Burning Man Festival in Nevada in protest of consumerism. In June, activists with a different group threw paint at a Monet painting at Sweden’s National Museum and then glued themselves to the frame. And last year, “Last Generation Austria” activists threw a black oily substance on a famous Gustav Klimt painting in Berlin.
“We know in these large events, environmental protesters use the platform,” said Allaster, the tournament director. “Certainly, security will be resuming, along with NYPD, to see what else we can do to prevent it in the future.”
Two males were taken into custody, an NYPD spokesperson said. Charges are pending and their names were not released.
One of them had glued himself to the floor, and personnel assigned to the department’s Emergency Service Unit were able to free him, the spokesperson said.
An announcer described it as a protest in the “far reaches” of the stadium.
Gauff and Muchová took a seat during the delay. The protester was eventually removed, and play resumed.
The semifinal match was held at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, which has 24,000 seats.
Gauff beat Muchová to advance to the final, which is Saturday.
Emma Li and Adam Reiss contributed.
