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The US Open

Protest rocks Gauff match as Sabalenka flips the script

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Coco Gauff ignored the 50-minute distraction of a climate protest in the stands at the US Open to defeat Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday to book her second career Grand Slam final.

The 19-year-old will play for the trophy on Saturday against Aryna Sabalenka, who became only the third woman in the Open era to win a match after losing the opening set 0-6.

Sabalenka, who takes over the top WTA ranking on Monday, denied American Madison Keys in a 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (10-5) win.

Keys served for victory leading 5-4 in the second set but could not seal the deal; she went down in the tiebreaker as Sabalenka stayed in the fight.

Coco Gauff wins through to the final on Saturday. Photo: Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd

Keys lost a break in the third set and saved two match points in the match tiebreak which closes out Grand Slam final sets before sending a return to lose after just over two and a half hours.

“I was all over the place (in the first set), Sabalenka said. “I’m just happy I was able to stay focused and finish.

“I don’t know how I won, she played incredible tennis.But somehow I turned around the match and won it.

“Being in this final means a lot to me, the reigning Australian Open champion 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

“In the final against Coco, I know most of the crowd will be for her. 

“But I will go and do all I can, I’ll be fighting for every point, I will do my best.”

The Gauff match was interrupted with the American leading a set and 1-0.

Aryna Sabalenka will face Gauff in Saturday’s final. Photo: Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd

Four protestors began shouting in the upper reaches of the vast arena with three being eventually led away by police while the other glued his bare feet to the cement floor.

Finally extracting him took up most of the time, while the befuddled players left the court.

The tournament explained the incident later: “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.” 

Gauff came back out to repeat her victory of last month in the Cincinnati final against the Roland Garros runner-up, advancing to the final on her sixth match point – preceded by a 40-shot rally.

The final will be the second for the Floridian after losing the French Open title match last season to Iga Swiatek.

“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).

“It was a tough match… I had leads, lost it. Serving for it. It (brought) a lot of emotional challenges.

“But I think I did a good job of staying focused. I’m just really proud of myself today.”

The winner said the protest delay was difficult to deal with.

“We didn’t know how long it was going to take. The supervisor and security said it could be as quick as five minutes or as long as an hour.

“It was tough to figure out if we stay warm or conserve energy.

“But it’s life. It happens. So I just tried my best to keep the momentum that I had going from winning the first set and the first game.”

Gauff won her 11th straight match, her longest career win streak.

She becomes the youngest American woman to make the Open semi-finals since Serena Williams nearly a quarter of a century 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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