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The US Open

Protest mars Gauff surge into US Open final

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Coco Gauff reached her second Grand Slam final with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Karolina Muchova on Thursday in a US Open match interrupted for nearly 50 minutes by climate change protests in the stands.

A group of four protesters began shouting early in the second set with play stopped as security moved into the upper reaches of the 24,000-seat venue to control the situation.

Local media reported one of the group wearing an “End Fossil Fuels” T-shirt had glued his feet to the cement floor of the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands and was soon surrounded by up to 15 New York police.

After nearly 40 minutes he was seen being escorted out in handcuffs by the cops, who had managed to free his feet from the floor after leading away the other three.

Both Gauff and Muchova left the court puzzled at the 10-minute mark and returned to the locker room during the unusual distraction.

The interruption proved to be so long that a full warmup was required before play resumed with Gauff up a set and 1-0.

“We had three environmental protestors, two were removed quickly. Security found one of them had glued his bare feet to the cement floor,” Tournament Director Stacey Allaster said.

EXCLUSIVE: Anti-fossil fuel protesters are surrounded by police after delaying the Coco Gauff v Karolina Muchova semifinal by 45 minutes.
Photo: Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd

An official tournament notice said: “Three of the four protesters were escorted out of the stadium without further incident. 

“The fourth protester affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl. Due to the nature of this action, NYPD and medical personnel were needed in order to safely remove this individual from the stadium.

“The four protesters were taken into NYPD custody.”  

After the resumption, Gauff went about her business of becoming the youngest finalist here since 1999, finally moving through on her sixth match point.

That opportunity was set up by a massive 40-shot rally, with the American teenager finally prevailing.

She repeated a win she took three week ago in the final at Cincinnati over her Czech opponent.

“I grew up watching this event,” the winner said. “it means a lot to be in the final.

“There’s a lot to celebrate but the job is not done yet. I hope you fans back me on Saturday (final).’

Gauff will bid for the trophy against either second seed Aryna Sabalenka or fellow American Madison Keys.

In the opening set, Gauff got away to a 5-1 lead but was pulled up short as Muchova won the next three games to pull to 4-5.

The US teenager escaped after 48 minutes to capture the set with a break-back before the protest incident unfolded.

Gauf is now 17-1 since going out in the first round at Wimbledon two months ago.

The Australian Open

Wimbledon goes modern with electronic reviews

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Wimbledon will bow to the high-tech future by introducing limited electronic reviews of line calls on major courts at the Championships, the club revealed on Saturday.

The All England Club will allow the technology on showcourts including Centre Court, No. 1 and four others. During controversial moments, competitors will be allowed to ask the chair umpire for a review of the point in question.

The wizardry is coming late to Wimbledon having been used at the US Open since 2023 and later adapted by the Australian Open. Roland Garros relies on marks in its clay surface to determine line calls.

Under the rules, players can ask for the review any number of times, with electronic line-calling now in effect at the grass-court major for a second year after the 2025 elimination of human line judges.

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ATP

Sinner claims full house with Indian Wells win

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World No. 2 Jannik Sinner became the youngest man to complete the full set of hard-court victories by beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (8) 7-6 (7) in the searing heat of Indian Wells.

The 24 year old Italian, didn’t face a break point during the final nor did he drop a set on his way to claiming his first title of the year and his 25th overall.

Sinner has won both hard court Grand Slams, with victories at the Australian Open in 2024 and 2025 and at the US Open in 2024.

In addition he has lifted all six Masters 1000 series hard court titles – adding the Indian Wells title to victories in Miami, Toronto, Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris plus the season-ending ATP Finals.

Only Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have achieved the same feat.

Main photo:- Jannik Sinner lifts Indian Wells Trophy – by ATPTour.com

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Indian wells

Her way or the highway for Raducanu on court

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Emma Raducanu remained defiant at the start of the Indian Wells Masters that if she does hire a new coach, it might not be to try and shape her game.

The Brit who won the 2021 US Open as a qualifier and then suffered a four-year drop in form due to injury, is in the market for a mentor – but only if he or she conforms to her vision for her tennis.

“Right now, it’s more about bringing my instincts back out, getting back in touch with myself,” the 23-year-old told the BBC.  “I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn’t necessarily fit.

“So I want to come back to my natural way of playing. That takes time to relearn because that’s something that has been coached out of me a little bit.

“I don’t necessarily want to have one coach in the role because anyone I bring in is straight away going to be scrutinised – even if it’s a trial.

“I might feel the pressure to stick with them, even if it’s not necessarily the right decision.

“I would love to have a coach that works well, but I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be easy to find one person and they are going to check every box.”

Raducanu reached a WTA fiak in early February after exiting in the Australian Open second round. She lost both matches she played last month in the Gulf, at Doha and Dubai.

She is entering the first Masters of the season with former coach Mark Petchey filling in ad hoc in between his TV broadcast commentating duties.

But that solution is temporary. “With Mark I knew he’d be in Indian Wells so I asked him to come out a few days earlier just to do some stuff with me on the court and try to feel back in a better way with my game,” the No. 24 said.

“At the start of the year I didn’t feel too good but the last few days I’ve been feeling better. 

“It’s not something that has really been organised going forward but I knew he would be here and it’s been great, I always love being on court with him.”

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