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      Medvedev Stuns Alcaraz to Meet Djokovic in U.S. Open Finals

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      Daniil Medvedev upset the reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in their semifinal, while Novak Djokovic predictably beat Ben Shelton.Just when the U.S. Open was on the verge of its dream weekend, Daniil Medvedev did perhaps the most Medvedev-like thing and messed it all up.With a stunning win over Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning champion and 20-year-old wunderkind of the sport, the 27-year-old Medvedev — the game’s happy troll, playful wiseguy and unorthodox baseliner — took a wrench to the popular plans to watch the next chapter of Alcaraz’s mounting generational rivalry with Novak Djokovic.Instead of a rematch of an epic Alcaraz-Djokovic final in the tuneup to this tournament three weeks ago, which was a rematch of the Wimbledon final in July, which was a rematch of their semifinal showdown at the French Open in June, Sunday will bring a rematch of 2021 U.S. Open final between Medvedev and Djokovic.On that day, Medvedev, the Russian with the funky strokes, goofy one-liners and dead fish victory celebration, left Djokovic’s quest to become the first man in 50 years to win all four Grad Slam titles in a calendar year in tatters, drubbing the seemingly unbeatable Serbian champion in three sets.“Novak is always better than the previous time he played,” Medvedev said. “Novak is going to be his best version Sunday, and I have to try to be my best version to beat him.”Friday night, it was the seemingly unstoppable Alcaraz, the sport’s showstopper of the moment, who endured the head-on impact of a party crash. Medvedev chased after every ball and snapped off one of the most lethal serves in the game throughout the night, matching Alcaraz shot for shot and pushing him to the edge of losing his cool in the second set. Alcaraz nearly threw his racket to the ground but held back at the last moment. Medvedev then weathered Alcaraz’s third set comeback attempt to prevail in four sets over the tournament’s top seed and current world No. 1, 7-6 (3), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.“I’m going to change my mind,” Alcaraz said after the tense battle. “I’m not mature enough to handle these kinds of matches.”Alcaraz had his moments, especially early in the third set, when he began dancing across the court and taking control of points by flying into the net to deliver his stinging volleys. He found that extra zip on his ground strokes and had Medvedev hanging his head for the first time all night as Alcaraz halved the lead.After a bathroom break and a change of clothes, though, Medvedev rediscovered his early form, evolving once more into the human backboard capable of finding the tightest angle to sneak a ball past his most gifted and acrobatic opponent.Alcaraz, the reigning U.S. Open champion, lost to Medvedev, the 2021 champion.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesThat was the trick he pulled off in the marathon sixth game of the fourth set, which lasted nearly 15 minutes. He flung a backhand return onto the Spaniard’s shoelaces as he surged toward the net on his second chance to break Alcaraz’s serve. He looked up at the crowd and waved his fingers in the air, as he had been doing all night, his how-about-some-love-for-me gesture.Two games later, he had locked up the second victory of the men’s semifinals in which durability won out over style. The fingers went up to the air once more. Alcaraz had beaten him handily twice this year. Not on this day, and then it was time to begin focusing on coming duel with Djokovic, which is like no other test in the sport.“It’s a mental preparation where you want to go to war,” Medvedev said.Djokovic is rarely in better form than during a Grand Slam final, especially lately. He is about to play his fourth this year, and has already won two.“Grand Slams are the biggest goals and objectives that I have,” he said Friday evening. “I set my schedule so that I could perform at my best in these tournaments, and that’s what happened again this year.”To clinch the final, Djokovic had to get past Ben Shelton, a 20-year-old Floridian thunderbolt. Like Alcaraz, every time Shelton took the court at this U.S. Open, he put on one of its most entertaining shows.He was a racket-waving highlight reel once more against Djokovic, playing the kind of tennis that could make every American fan pay homage to the spirit of “Big” Bill Tilden or whatever magical force led Shelton to pursue tennis instead of football as he became a teenager.That second serve of 143 miles per hour, and the frightening forehand the kid ripped across the court. The athleticism he showed floating back to turn solid lobs into fearless, rocking overheads. Those arms rippling out of his sleeveless shirt, and the spirit, too, the way he yelled out an exuberant “yeah!” like a kid on the playground every time he snatched a big point. And that touch on the drop volleys, that land and spin back toward the net.Unfortunately for Shelton, the scoring system in tennis offers no style points, and in Djokovic he faced not only a 23-time Grand Slam winner and the greatest player of the modern era but the ultimate practitioner of tennis tai chi. For years, and never more than in his latest stretch of dominance, the 36-year-old Djokovic has been turning the power and style of the flashiest and most powerful challengers against them.Novak Djokovic overwhelmed Ben Shelton to reach yet another Grand Slam final.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesPlaying in a record 47th Grand Slam semifinal, Djokovic executed the sort of tactical deconstruction of Shelton that has crushed the dreams and good vibes and flash that so many younger players have come at him with before. Without using an ounce more energy than necessary, Djokovic took apart the young man with the sculpted arms, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4), in just over two and a half hours.For most of the afternoon, he caught up with Shelton’s drop shots from the back of the court like a cheetah chasing his lunch, and picked off the missiles on Shelton’s serve like he was catching butterflies in a field on a late summer afternoon. When it ended with Shelton whipping a forehand into the net, Djokovic even stole Shelton’s much-talked-about post-match celebration — miming a phone at his ear then slamming it down before giving the young lad an icy handshake.Shelton saw Djokovic’s mimic later on video after he left the court. He doesn’t much care for people telling him how to celebrate, he said.“I think if you win the match, you deserve to do whatever you want,” said Shelton, who gave Djokovic a glare as he approached the net. “As a kid growing up, I always learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so that’s all I have to say about that.”Djokovic, who spoke about the celebration after Shelton, said with a wry smile, “I just love Ben’s celebration. I thought it was very original, and I copied him.”Understand now, Djokovic appreciates flashy tennis highlights as much as anyone. Taking the court for the third set holding a nearly insurmountable — against him — two-set lead, he swung just about as hard as he could and watched Shelton feather a drop volley. Djokovic gave the moment the racket clap it deserved. Lovely play, young man. Minutes later he cruised into the court and rolled a passing shot to break Shelton’s serve and spirit once more.Ben Shelton running in to handle a drop shot.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesDjokovic did all this in front of a crowd of nearly 24,000 fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium revved up for a high-octane brawl. With thunderstorms in the area, the roof was closed, and every time Shelton put together one of his displays of power and touch and speed and athleticism and came away with the point, the blast of the roars was something that felt like you could reach out and touch.That was never more true than when Shelton trailed 2-4 in the third set, desperately trying to extend the match. He found himself with a point to break Djokovic’s serve and did not disappoint, drawing Djokovic into a wide forehand that generated a brain-rattling sound. Two games later, amid Djokovic’s only error-strewn and poor-serving lull of the day (it happens), he held a break point and all the good vibes.And then once more, Djokovic stifled the moment with his trademark efficiency — a 124 m.p.h. serve out wide that Shelton could not handle. Order had been restored.There was still a little more Shelton and Djokovic for the packed stadium to enjoy. Shelton saved match point and sent the third set to a tiebreaker, then stuck around a bit when he went down, 5-1. But Djokovic had things to do and a rightful place in his 36th Grand Slam final. When he clinched it, it was his turn to bask in the noise — and hang up the phone — just as he expected it would be.“I know how much work and dedication and energy I put into trying to be in this position, so I know that I deserve this,” he said. “I always believe in myself, in my own capabilities, you know, in my skills, in my quality as a tennis player to be able to deliver when it matters.” More

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      At the U.S. Open, the Dwindling Ranks Leave Space and a Solitary Vibe

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      It happens every year. Tennis players, by the hundreds, disappear from Flushing Meadows Corona Park.They arrive with hopes of remaining there at least two weeks, but every two days about half of them vanish until their ranks dwindle to a small, select handful. They walk the eerily quiet back halls, lounges and locker rooms of Arthur Ashe Stadium, tennis’ largest venue, nearly alone. The same phenomenon happens in London, Paris and Melbourne, Australia, each year, until eventually there are only two left to share a giant locker room, player restaurant and court.The Hall of Famer Chris Evert felt that blissful solitude 34 times in Grand Slam singles events, and won 18 of them. The goal is obviously to win their survivor game, but it is still a strange feeling.“It’s lonely and there’s pressure knowing it means you’re the last two women standing,” Evert said, adding, “There are pleasantries and small talk. You don’t want them to see you’re nervous, but you are.”When each of the four major tournaments begins, the many player areas are teeming with competitors, plus their coaches, agents, trainers, family members and hitting partners. It is difficult to get a table in the player restaurant. Preferred times for a practice court or session with the athletic trainer can be hard to come by. People are bumping into one another, stepping over equipment bags, waiting for someone to move so they can reach their locker.“At the beginning, it’s very hectic,” said Andy Murray, who has played in 11 major finals and won three, including the U.S. Open in 2012. “There’s a lot of hustle and bustle.”Even before the first day of the main draw, there are 128 women and 128 men competing in the qualifying rounds, while scores more show up to begin practicing. When the first Monday of the main draw finally hits, it’s a tennis circus. Each locker room at the U.S. Open has roughly 375 lockers, and in the early days all are in use.Space on the practice courts goes from scarce to ample.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesHiroko Masuike/The New York TimesGradually, some of the qualifiers lose and leave, but their spaces are handed over to newly arriving doubles players. Each contestant is allowed one additional person in the locker room, and past champions get two, and sometimes three as the event proceeds.“The first few days it’s crazy,” said Stan Wawrinka, who has reached four major finals and won three, including the 2016 U.S. Open. “The player restaurant is packed, you can’t find a table. It’s so noisy. I’m always trying to stay focused with my team and because of that, I don’t stay on site.”Then the cull begins. After two days, half the singles players have been eliminated. Two days after that, the herd is halved again, and so on. The same happens with the doubles teams and wheelchair players (Juniors have a different locker room, but they and their family members are allowed in the common players areas and restaurants).Day by day it gets quieter, until finally, after two weeks, there are just two left. Murray, like Evert, is a gregarious sort and enjoys the company of others. Roger Federer was known to be one of the livelier players in the locker room, too.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesHiroko Masuike/The New York TimesBut the goal is to be the last one alive in this “Squid Game,” and sometimes the isolation adds to the pressure. Before his U.S. Open final against Novak Djokovic in 2012, Murray practiced with his team, but they left him alone in the locker room to go eat while he prepared for his match.“It’s a huge locker room with no one else in there,” Murray recalled. “I remember feeling like I was incredibly nervous, and I wanted some company. At that time, I was still quite young, and I didn’t want to tell them I was nervous. I called my psychologist at the time, and she didn’t answer her phone. I felt really nervous just being in there on my own.”It turned out fine, as Murray won his first major title, but the loneliness is something with which the best players must grapple. Those who revel in solitude, like Pete Sampras, thrived on it. In Steve Flink’s book, “Pete Sampras: Greatness Revisited,” Sampras said, “I loved it on the last week of Wimbledon when nobody was in the locker room. I am a lone wolf.”Tracy Austin went 2-0 in U.S. Open finals, beating Evert in 1978 and Martina Navratilova in 1981, and said there was always cordiality in the locker room before and after matches.Mixed doubles is down to just four players. Jessica Pegula, left, and Austin Krajicek will play for the title Saturday.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesGetting a table in the players’ restaurant gets easier the deeper into the tournament. Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesShe described the first week of a major tournament as draining, as much from navigating all the different people and chaotic scenes, as from playing the matches. To reach the end, and see all her colleagues disappear, was energizing.“The solitude is great,” Austin said. “It means you made it to the end and you don’t have to deal with whether you are being social or not. All your energy is focused into your match.”Every player handles it differently. Years ago, when there were fewer “teams” of coaches, agents, physios and advisers, players had more direct interaction, even when they were about to face one another. Evonne Goolagong Cawley sang in locker rooms before finals. Navratilova usually shared her food with Evert.Such collegiality is unheard-of in hockey, football, soccer and other sports, where teams do not dress in the same locker rooms. Golfers do, but that sport is not defined by one-on-one competition, as tennis is. In the same room, tennis players see when their opponent stretches, where they get taped, what muscles they ask the trainer to focus on.“You’re peripherally aware of your opponent and their moves getting ready for the match,” Evert said. “There’s definitely stress in the air and a finality of the moment. We are not one of many matches, we are the match. You are trying to not think about your opponent, but you wonder if they’re nervous, confident, relaxed.”For many players, the end of the first week, when more than 100 players in each draw have been eliminated, marks a turning point. There are still enough people around to have some social interaction, but the throngs have subsided and there is space to think and work.“The first week is the most stressful,” said Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has played in two major singles finals. “My favorite period of the Grand Slam is when the second week kicks in and everything starts to mellow down and become much quieter and more human, in a way.”Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesHiroko Masuike/The New York TimesEric Butorac, a former tour professional, now works as a player liaison for the United States Tennis Association. He is in and out of the men’s locker room every day. He described how attendants hand out locker assignments, with preference to past champions, but they also tend to group countrymen together.Federer, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were in so many finals over the last 20 years that eventually the locker room would become their own.“The Americans have this corner, the Spanish are here, the French are here,” Butorac said.“You get toward the end of a tournament and it’s like, Novak is around the corner to the left, Rafa is always in the back right, Roger’s is the second from the end over here.”“Going into the restaurant was extremely lonely,” Eric Butorac said of the final days of a tournament. Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThe player restaurant, pulsating with activity in the first week, gradually thins until only the finalists and their teams remain. Nadal and Federer used to relax in the restaurant before finals, playing games with members of their teams, and people knew to give them space. Butorac has been there, too. He reached the men’s doubles final at the 2014 Australian Open, and also warmed up Federer before his semifinal with Nadal.“Going into the restaurant was extremely lonely,” he said. “It was me, my one coach, my partner and his one coach. Federer was way down there and there were 30 empty tables between us. It was actually an eerily lonely feeling to be the last one standing. On TV it’s a big spectacle, but it has an odd feeling to it.”At the U.S. Open, the player garden turns into a desolate patio. The five practice courts, which were overcrowded at the beginning of play, are mostly empty. During the men’s final — the last event of the tournament — the hallways are nearly empty, other than security personnel. The other courts on the grounds are vacant. Even with Ashe packed, it is still the smallest overall attendance of the event, as only a handful of fans watch the big screen from the courtyard.“I love it,” said Daniil Medvedev, who won the U.S. Open in 2021 and has played in three other major finals. “That final Sunday is the best. It’s only you, his team and your team. I don’t feel lonely. If you want to win, you have to be alone at the end.” More

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      An Extraordinary Men’s Doubles Three-Peat at the U.S. Open

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      Rajeev Ram of the United States and Joe Salisbury of Britain are the first pair to win three straight doubles titles in New York in the Open era.The 2023 U.S. Open has been characterized by the emergence of several young American stars seeking their first major titles. For Rajeev Ram, the veteran American doubles specialist, winning titles here is becoming repetitive.Ram, 39, and Joe Salisbury of Britain won the men’s doubles title on Friday afternoon and became the first team to win three straight men’s doubles titles at the U.S. national championships in 109 years.They beat No. 6 Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, in a match underscored by an act of notable sportsmanship.The last team to win three U.S. Open championships in a row was the all-American duo of Tom Bundy and Maurice McLoughlin, who did it from 1912 to 1914. Ram, who is from Carmel, Ind., calls himself a tennis history buff, making the achievement even more meaningful to him.“It will be something that I will carry with me forever,” he said.The No. 3 seeds, Ram and Salisbury also won the 2020 Australian Open. But this title may have been just as unexpected after they rebounded from a difficult year to win the final major of the circuit. They had won only one previous tournament this year, the Lyon Open in France in May, and were 4-6 in their last 10 matches coming into the U.S. Open. Then, in the final, they played a terrible first set before recovering to win.Other legendary doubles pairs have compiled impressive streaks at different Grand Slams, including John McEnroe and Peter Fleming, who won four titles in six years at Wimbledon; the Woodies — Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge — who won five in a row at Wimbledon; and Bob and Mike Bryan, who won three in a row and six in eight years in Australia. But none of those duos were able to string together three straight at the U.S. Open, the last major of the calendar year.Ram said it is extraordinarily difficult to win three U.S. Opens in a row. “A lot has to go right,” he said. “You have to get really lucky.”Americans have made a strong showing at this year’s U.S. Open, with Coco Gauff reaching Saturday’s final in women’s singles and another American woman, Madison Keys, going as far as the semifinals. In the men’s singles, three Americans made it to the final eight, and Ben Shelton reached a semifinal, where he lost to No. 2 Novak Djokovic in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday.Ram, 39, and Salisbury, 31, won their earlier match on the same court. After it was over, Salisbury put a towel over his head, hiding tears that he acknowledged later.“I don’t know why this one seems more emotional than the others,” Salisbury said. “I don’t remember crying after any matches, especially not ones that we’ve won, even at the Grand Slams. There’s something about being here, about doing it, doing it again and doing it after the year we’ve had. We had some struggles, some pretty low times.”The match featured a moment of fair play so notable that the chair umpire announced it to the audience.With Ebden serving at 2-4 in the third set, he hit a forehand that barely skimmed Bopanna’s right elbow before landing in Ram and Salisbury’s court for an apparent winner. But Bopanna immediately signaled to the chair that it had hit him, meaning they would lose the point. No one else, including Ram, Salisbury and the chair umpire, noticed it, and Bopanna had to approach the umpire and notify her.When she explained it to the spectators, they applauded the gesture, and the score was corrected to 0-30. It did not end up factoring in the game because Ebden and Bopanna won the next four points and held serve. But Ram said it was unprecedented.“I haven’t seen anything like that in all the years I’ve been playing, and especially not in a Grand Slam final,” Ram said. “Nobody saw it. Nobody heard it. It would have been only him that would have known that happened if he didn’t say something.”After the match, in the locker room, Ram expressed his admiration directly to his gracious opponent.“I don’t have the words to say how much I appreciate something like that,” Ram said. More

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      A Tennis Reporter on Familiar Grounds

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      Matthew Futterman, a Sports journalist, reflects on his many years attending, and later, covering, the Grand Slam tournament in Flushing, Queens.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.As a reporter who covers tennis for The New York Times, I am often asked which of the four Grand Slam tournaments — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon or the U.S. Open — is my favorite.I admit I’m biased, as I’ve lived in New York most of my life. But my answer has never wavered: the U.S. Open.I’ve been coming to the tournament since 1978; I was a 9-year-old tennis-head who grew up in Westchester County during the American tennis boom. The tournament had just moved from the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills to what is now the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.I remember scant details about that first tournament. My parents took my two brothers and me. We sat way up in the red bleachers of Louis Armstrong Stadium, the venue’s main arena. It was hot and breezy, as it often is when you’re a stone’s throw from Flushing Bay. Roscoe Tanner was playing. He could serve the ball 150 miles an hour in spite of racket technology that is now considered ancient.The coolest thing about that stadium, which was later renovated, and then torn down and replaced, was that if you climbed to the top of the bleachers, you could lean over a railing and watch the action on the Grandstand court about 150 feet below. It seemed incredibly unsafe. But it was also awesome in the way that so much of New York in the 1970s and ’80s was — it felt dangerous and wonderful all at once.One year, my brother and I snagged seats a few rows up from the court on the Grandstand and watched Vitas Gerulaitis win an epic match in an early round. Gerulaitis, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1994, was one of the great New Yorkers, a Long Island boy with shoulder-length blond curly hair. The little bandbox of a stadium was teeming with fans screaming their lungs out for him.Like Gerulaitis, John McEnroe, another tennis great, grew up playing at the Port Washington Tennis Academy on Long Island. I knew people who knew them. An older cousin used to tell me stories of leaving Studio 54 at 2 a.m., just as Gerulaitis and his posse, which sometimes included Bjorn Borg, were entering the club. New York felt like the center of the tennis universe.In my 30s, I became a sportswriter and eventually a specialist who mostly covers tennis and the Olympics. Most people think I have one of the world’s greatest jobs. They’re not wrong. I typically spend about three months a year on the road, covering the major tennis tournaments and a handful of other sporting events. The two weeks when I get to sleep in my own bed in Manhattan and cover the U.S. Open are extra special.All the Grand Slams are great in their own ways, with many wonderful people, including new and longtime volunteers, who make them possible.I’m not sure any nation’s fans relish sport as much as the Aussies. The French Open has those beautiful red clay courts. Wimbledon has the tradition, but there is also the Royal Box, where princes and queens sit. But monarchies aren’t really my thing.Matthew Futterman at the U.S. Open, his annual pilgrimage.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesThe U.S. Open is how I think tennis should be: welcoming, with limited emphasis on staid decorum. The tournament is largely removed from its reputation as an elitist sport for the rich.We have Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, the Williams Sisters, Frances Tiafoe, Coco Gauff and many others to thank for that. It also helps that the country’s signature tennis event happens in a public park, rather than a private club.The stadiums aren’t hallowed grounds but utilitarian concrete boxes. Yes, there are some fancier, corporate enclaves and very pricey cocktails, but there is a lot about the space that signals inclusion; the complex is named for King, a woman who proudly identifies as lesbian, and its main stadium honors Ashe, a Black man and civil rights activist. Look around the grounds on a busy day and the place somewhat resembles the city that hosts it.Shortly after the tournament ends, you can reserve a time and play with your buddies on those same courts. I’ve hit plenty of balls there. I’ve watched one of my kids practice and play matches there. Try doing that at the All England Club.This year’s tournament is steaming toward the finish. So many of the big names have played deep into the tournament: Djokovic. Alcaraz. Gauff. I will be in the lower bowl, about 10 rows up from the court, for the men’s and women’s finals — two of my favorite days of the year — though the other 12 days of the tournament are sometimes even better.Shortly after the tournament ends, I will be shifting to The Athletic, the sports website that The Times owns, which will take over the traditional sports coverage for the company this month.I don’t know how many years I’ve attended the Open since 1978. Most would be a very safe bet, including in 2020, after New York had become a hot spot for the coronavirus, when I was one of a tiny handful of journalists permitted on site for the Open. It was like reporting from the surface of the moon.Thankfully, at The Athletic, I’ll continue to do what I do, including, of course, covering those other Slams and the U.S. Open every year, chasing the stories of agony and ecstasy that this beautiful and cruel sport always produces.Tennis, anyone? More

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      Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka to Meet in U.S. Open Final

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      After a lengthy delay caused by protesters, Gauff and Sabalenka emerged as winners. Both will play the first U.S. Open final and second major final of their career.They grow up fast these days, and none faster than Coco Gauff.In early July, she was a shaky tennis teenager possibly heading into the sport’s wilderness, struggling to answer questions about how someone who had once appeared so precocious, so destined for greatness, could still be waiting for her big moment.In September, she is a U.S. Open finalist, the star attraction of her home Grand Slam tournament and the new face of her sport in America.Gauff, the 19-year-old prodigy from steamy South Florida, beat Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 7-5, to reach her first U.S. Open singles final on a warm and heavy Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Gauff had been tested as never before by Muchova’s all-court game and the strangest of atmospherics, but in the end the night went her way in front a crowd that exploded for her over and over along the way.“Some of those points were so loud I don’t know if my ears are going to be OK,” she said in her on-court interview.Aryna Sabalenka beat Madison Keys, 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (10-5).Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesGauff will face Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the final. Sabalenka, who will become the world No. 1 when the new rankings come out next week, clinched her spot in a topsy-turvy, three-set slugfest against Madison Keys, 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (10-5), that stretched until nearly 1 a.m. Keys served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and was up a service break midway through the third. But she could not get across the finish line to set up an all-American final, as Sabalenka’s error-strewn power game proved just good enough.“Amazing player,” Sabalenka said of Gauff. “I’ll be fighting for every point.”Gauff was controlling her match when a climate protest early in the second set caused a nearly 50-minute delay. The New York Police Department and security officials struggled to remove protesters, one of whom had used an adhesive to glue his feet to the concrete in an upper level of the stadium.Gauff had won the first set and led 1-0 in the second when protesters interrupted the match.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesAt the time of the interruption, Gauff held a lead of 6-4, 1-0 and was playing as well as she needed to take advantage of a seemingly tight Muchova, who played with a black compression sleeve covering her right arm from her biceps to her wrist and, she said, tape beneath the sleeve.During the delay, Gauff and Muchova headed off the court and tried to stay loose in the locker room and the warm-up area. Muchova got a massage and jogged lightly in the hallway outside the locker room. Gauff, seemingly loose, wandered over to a worker from the United States Tennis Association and leaned over to see pictures of the protesters circulating on social media.She said later that she woke up Thursday morning thinking that a climate protest might break out, as they had at the French Open in 2022 and Wimbledon this year.Maybe that was a premonition. Maybe it was preparation by a player with a reputation for always doing her homework. She earned her diploma on time in the spring of last year despite spending all her high school years on the pro tour. She and her family celebrated in Paris, then she won six matches at the French Open before losing to the world No. 1, Iga Swiatek, in the final on a day when she said the moment overwhelmed her.The delay on Thursday took the early juice out of a capacity crowd of nearly 24,000 fans who arrived ready to celebrate a new American tennis queen a year after watching Serena Williams play her last match, signaling the end of an era for American tennis.Over the past four years, Gauff has evolved into the most likely candidate to fill the void, breaking out at Wimbledon when she was 15 and making her French Open run last year. Since then, though, her progress seemed to stall, especially on the big stages, and she had yet to move past the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, the tournament where the spotlight shines brighter on her than anywhere else.Gauff made her second career major final. She lost the 2022 French Open championship match to Iga Swiatek of Poland.Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times“I’m having way more fun than I was three years ago,” she said.Two months ago, this run, and a championship that is now one match away, didn’t seem possible, but Thursday night Gauff showed every reason it suddenly is. She has long had so many of the tools needed to join the sport’s elite — a dangerous serve, a tough-as-nails backhand, and the speed and athleticism that combine for the best court coverage in the women’s game.In the past five weeks, she has learned just how to use those tools, stabilizing the shaky forehand that was her nemesis. Against Muchova, she mixed power forehands with looping ones, and she hammered serves while also slicing some into the corners. She cut backhands and charged the net. She took control of points and rallied with Muchova until the Czech star fumbled them away. She got her first match point on a feathered drop shot.“She’s moving well, she really gets that extra point back,” Muchova said of Gauff. “So you have to be focused and finish points. You have to be really there on the court and then see where she is running. You have to think where to put the ball to finish it at the net or try to play it earlier.”Gauff wobbled midway through the first set, losing three straight games after taking a 5-1 lead as Muchova started to hit out and pushed Gauff onto her heels. Gauff lost her serve once more as she tried to close out the match at 5-3 in the second.It would take another three games; one more break of Muchova’s serve; five more match points; a nearly endless, penultimate lung-busting, 40-shot rally filled with a slew of shots hit within inches of the net; and moon balls that floated 10 feet above it.Gauff had inklings both before and in the middle of that marathon point. She said she knew a point like that was coming, and knew that she had both the legs and the lungs for it and that it would just be a matter of patience. As the balls flew back and forth, she began to think that this point would change the match, and if she could win it, Muchova would not be able to survive yet another long test on the next match point.“She was definitely going to go for the winner or miss,” she said. “That’s what happened.”Gauff fought off one last sharp serve from Muchova and hung on until one last backhand sailed long.New York has been hers since her first match of the tournament, and now this night, and a spot in the finals, was hers, too. More

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      Climate Protesters Stop U.S. Open Semifinal Match

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      The delay of 49 minutes during the match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was caused by environmental protesters, including one who glued his feet to the ground.As the protesters chanted, many other attendees booed the disruption.Mike Segar/ReutersThe U.S. Open semifinal match on Thursday night between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was delayed by 49 minutes early in the second set by four environmental protesters in the upper levels of Arthur Ashe Stadium who were calling for an end to fossil fuels. One protester glued his bare feet to the ground.The protest confused fans, television commentators and the players themselves, who were trying to understand what the group was protesting and why the match had been delayed so long. When play stopped, Gauff, the eventual winner, was leading, 6-4, 1-0. Both players left the court.As stadium security tried to remove the protesters from the stadium, at least 10 New York City police officers were seen surrounding the disturbance in the loge level.Chris Widmaier, a spokesman for the United States Tennis Association, which hosts the U.S. Open, said after the match that three of the four protesters were escorted out of the stadium without any issues. But police officers and medical personnel were brought in to safely remove the fourth protester who had affixed his feet to the cement floor with some sort of product, Widmaier said.“We plan for it,” Widmaier said. “We prepare for a lot of things. To my knowledge, this kind of protest seems to be happening at other places. We are very aware of environmental protests. It happened at Wimbledon. It happened at the Citi Open.” The Open, especially in its late rounds, is among the more expensive sporting events in New York City, and attracts an affluent crowd of New Yorkers, tennis fans and celebrities.The U.S. Open had a designated area for protests outside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, so long as groups have a permit, Widmaier said.A spokesman for the New York Police Department said four protesters inside Arthur Ashe Stadium were taken into police custody “without incident.”It was unclear whether the police had charged the demonstrators. The protest was still under investigation late Thursday night, the spokesman said.It was also unclear how security and the police officers were able to unstick the man’s feet from the stadium floor.As the delay went on, several people in the crowd were heard chanting, “Kick them out,” referring to the protesters.Given the history of similar protests at tennis matches, Gauff told reporters after the match that she had a feeling there would be a protest at the U.S. Open. Gauff said she didn’t know exactly what the protesters were calling for, but added that she believes in climate change.“I think there’s things that we can do better,” Gauff said. “But I prefer it not happening in my match.”Muchova said after her loss that the delay “obviously changed the rhythm” of the match.“It is what it is,” Muchova said. “What can we do about it?”At about 8:50 p.m., about 45 minutes into the delay, the players returned to the court to warm up.A protester glued his bare feet to the floor in the stands, Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Open tournament director, said in a television interview.Elsa/Getty ImagesThis was not the first instance of an environmental protest at a major tennis tournament this year. At Wimbledon in July, environmental protesters halted play during a match by throwing confetti onto a grass court. In 2022 at the Rod Laver Cup in London, a protester set fire to his arm after running onto the court during a match, briefly setting fire to the playing surface.Extinction Rebellion NYC, an environmental activist group, said in a statement after the delay that its activists were there to call for an end to fossil fuels, and that there is “no tennis on a dead planet.”Miles Grant, an Extinction Rebellion spokesman, said in a phone interview that the protesters at the U.S. Open were safely escorted off the tennis grounds.“They were not hurt,” he said. “That was really important to us.”Grant, who was not at the U.S. Open on Thursday, said in an earlier statement that “the climate is already more disruptive than any activists can possibly be.”“Just look at the U.S. Open and other big tennis events — year after year, the average temperatures have been rising, making it hotter and more dangerous for the players and spectators,” Grant said. “At some point, there will be fewer outdoor sporting events due to excessive heat.”The scene at Arthur Ashe Stadium after protesters caused a delay.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThe group’s protest came as players at the U.S. Open have been forced to contend with some of the hottest weather of the tournament, with temperatures this week rising into the 90s and humidity making it feel even hotter at times. Highs in New York this week have been about 10 degrees above normal for this time of the year, according to the National Weather Service.Nicole Andersen, a nutritionist from Brooklyn, was sitting about 12 rows behind the protesters in Section 114 of the loge level. Initially, Andersen said she thought they were cheering loudly for Gauff.“Then we realized it was some kind of protest,” Andersen said. “Then they would not shut up and stop.”Andersen said that climate issues are “certainly a problem,” but added that the protesters at the match may have chosen “not the most effective way to protest for change.”During the delay, Gauff and Muchova tried to stay warm and loose in the locker room and the warm-up area. Muchova got a massage and jogged lightly in the hallway. Gauff talked with tournaments workers, leaning over to see pictures of the protesters circulating on social media.On the broadcast, Gauff could be heard telling her coaches that security and police were “negotiating” with the protesters, “like it’s a hostage situation.”An announcement of the delay at Arthur Ashe Stadium.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesBy 8:55 p.m., the players resumed the match, with Muchova to serve down 1-0 in the second set. Gauff went on to win the set, 7-5, and advance to her first U.S. Open singles final.Gauff’s matches during the tournament have drawn many boldface names and Thursday night was no exception. Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Broadway writer and performer, Julius Randle, the Knicks star forward, and Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion, like all in attendance, got more than a tennis match.Gauff will now play Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Madison Keys in the night’s second semifinal at Ashe Stadium, in their singles final set for Saturday afternoon.Orlando Mayorquin More

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      Coco Gauff Plays Karolina Muchova in US Open Semifinal Thursday

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      Gauff, 19, is one match win away from making the U.S. Open singles final for the first time in her career.Two American women will play on Thursday for spots in the U.S. Open final.One, Coco Gauff, the No. 6 seed, will play in the semifinals against 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. On the other side of the draw, 17th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States will face off against second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, this year’s Australian Open champion.Much of the spotlight in this tournament has been on Gauff, 19, in part for how far she has advanced on the tour while still a teenager. She reached the French Open final last year, and she is the first American teenager to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since Serena Williams did it in 2001.To reach the final, Gauff will need to defeat Muchova, who reached the French Open final this year.Here’s what to know about the match between Gauff and Muchova, set for Thursday at 7 p.m., Eastern time.How did they get here?Muchova has effectively cruised into the semifinals. Through her first five matches, she has dropped only one set, which came in the fourth round against Wang Xinyu. She advanced to the semifinals after defeating Sorana Cirstea, 6-0, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.Some of Gauff’s matches have gone on longer than she would have liked. She played a full three sets in the first round against Laura Siegemund, in the third round against Elise Mertens and in the fourth round against Caroline Wozniacki. In the quarterfinals, Gauff defeated Jelena Ostapenko, 6-0, 6-2, in just over an hour.Gauff says she’s feeling fresh.Gauff has spent a lot of time on court this tournament. In the single’s draw alone, she has played 9 hours 19 minutes. She has also played four matches through the quarterfinals in the women’s doubles draw with her partner, Jessica Pegula. She also played one match in the mixed doubles draw with Jack Sock.But despite all the court time, Gauff said after her victory over Ostapenko that she has been working to build her endurance for the later stages of Grand Slam tournaments.“I’m still in the mind-set that I’m in the beginning of the tournament,” Gauff said. “I just feel so fresh, to be honest. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been tricking myself or maybe when this is over I’m going to hit a wall. But I’m really proud of how I’m able to get through these matches.”Gauff beat Muchova recently.Gauff and Muchova have played each other only once. That match was in August in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Ohio, which Gauff won, 6-3, 6-4.Gauff said she was going to plan a different approach to playing Muchova this time because she thought Muchova was struggling physically in that match.“I don’t think that will be the case again,” Gauff said.Muchova didn’t want to reveal too much about her tactics against Gauff in the semifinal, saying she would focus on her own game. But Muchova said she knows Gauff has several tools to use in matches.“She’s very athletic,” Muchova said. “She never gives up, runs for every ball, doesn’t do many mistakes. She has kind of all the strokes.”Both players have reached a Grand Slam final.Now they want to win one. Muchova reached the final of the French Open this year, but lost in three sets to Iga Swiatek. Gauff experienced the same thing last year at the French Open, where she also lost the final to Swiatek.But while experience in a Grand Slam final is important, Muchova will also face a loud crowd that will be eager to cheer for an American in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.Aryna Sabalenka or Madison Keys will be next.The winner of the Gauff-Muchova match will play the winner of the other semifinal matchup, between Sabalenka and Keys, which follows. Sabalenka is favored to win, but, like Gauff, Keys will have an American crowd backing her in Arthur Ashe.“Of course, they will support her more than me,” Sabalenka said of Keys on Wednesday. “I’ll just try to stay focused and try to play my best tennis.”The women’s final is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. More

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      At the U.S. Open, Stifling Heat Causes Some Players to Lose Their Cool

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      An unseasonal stretch of extreme heat and humidity has left the stadiums at the Open sweltering. But a few players, Coco Gauff among them, say the hotter, the better.In most years, there is a very specific climate pattern at the U.S. Open.The tournament starts at the end of the dog days of August, in the lingering heat and humidity of a New York summer. By the final matches, at the end of the first full week of September, it’s a good idea to bring a light sweater or a windbreaker to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.Not this year. Not even close.A first week filled with cool, breezy afternoons and crisp nights has given way to some of the hottest days — and nights — of the summer, with conditions that have brought some of the fittest athletes in the world nearly to their knees, even when they are playing in twilight and after sunset. It is heat and humidity so oppressive that it parks itself in the brain, sparks fear and makes it difficult to focus on anything else, especially returning serves of 130 miles per hour and chasing forehands and backhands around the court for as many as five hours.Earl Wilson/The New York TimesIt is the first thing that Daniil Medvedev has been thinking of when taking the court for his warm-ups this week, sessions that take place hours before his matches.“I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’” Medvedev said the other day as he prepared to play Alex de Minaur of Australia. Medvedev is from Russia and, like many of the Eastern European players, can become awfully cranky in extreme heat.In a quarterfinal match on Wednesday, he struggled to see the ball and relied on instinct to survive a grinding battle with his countryman and close friend, Andrey Rublev. For the second consecutive day, organizers used a new measure to bring relief — partially closing the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium to shade the court.“One player gonna die, and they gonna see,” Medvedev muttered in the middle of the match.Even still, after Medvedev prevailed in straight sets in two hours, 47 minutes, he slumped on his chair, draping a towel packed with ice around his neck, his head between his knees, begging for water. Had the match stretched to a fourth set, Medvedev said he would have used the 10-minute break to take a cold shower, even though he knew it might make his body stiff as a board.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times“I didn’t care, I was going for the shower,” said Medvedev, the skin on his face raw hours later from rubbing it with a towel too much.“Brutal,” is how Cliff Drysdale, the longtime tennis commentator for ESPN, described the afternoon.As the planet warms, officials in every warm-weather sport are searching for a balance between safety and maintaining the belief that elite sports demand elite fitness and the ability to win in challenging conditions. International soccer has incorporated water breaks in extreme heat. Track and field has started scheduling marathons at dawn or at night.Tennis, which has become more physical and taxing during the last 20 years thanks to improving racket and string technology and court conditions, is navigating the issue as well.“It’s part of the sport,” Stacey Allaster, the tournament director for the U.S. Open, said of the heat.Frances TiafoeAmir Hamja/The New York TimesBen SheltonAmir Hamja/The New York TimesHiroko Masuike/The New York TimesTennis players are not strangers to extreme temperatures. Their seasons begin in the Australian summer in January, where hot winds from the arid plains can send temperatures into the triple digits and make the tournament feel as though it’s taking place inside an oven. At the Australian Open in Melbourne, shifting winds and temperature swings of 20 to 30 degrees within a few hours are not uncommon.After Australia — though there are a handful of indoor tournaments — the sport essentially spends the next 10 months chasing the sun. There are steamy stops, such as Doha, Dubai, Florida, and Mexico; and even August events in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and outside Cincinnati ahead of the U.S. Open in New York’s “big heat,” as Novak Djokovic refers to it.This week, that heat has been very big indeed, requiring Allaster; Jake Garner, the tournament referee; and their team of advisers to keep a close eye on the WetBulb Globe Temperature, a measure of the heat stress in direct sunlight, which also takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover.When it rises above 86 degrees, mitigation measures kick in, including the 10-minute break between the second and third sets of the women’s matches and the third and fourth sets of men’s matches.Garner said in an interview on Wednesday that officials this summer decided that when the index hit 90 degrees, he and his team would meet to consider whether to partially close the roofs at its two main stadiums, Louis Armstrong and Arthur Ashe.It crossed that threshold on Tuesday, nearing 92 degrees on the court during Coco Gauff’s quarterfinal win over Jelena Ostapenko. Had that match gone to a third set, the roof would have been partially closed, but Gauff won in straight sets. So officials shaded the court for the next match, Novak Djokovic’s straight sets win over Taylor Fritz.“We both struggled,” Djokovic said. “A lot.”On Tuesday, temperatures became so hot that officials shaded Arthur Ashe Stadium during Novak Djokovic’s quarterfinal victory over Taylor Fritz.Amir Hamja/The New York TimesLater in the afternoon, on one of the field courts, Stephane Houdet, who is participating in the wheelchair tournament, stashed a water bottle in the box near the baseline where players keep their towels, sipping from it between points.“A great idea,” said Brian Hainline, the chairman of the United States Tennis Association, who is a physician and the chief medical officer for the N.C.A.A. The problem for the U.S.T.A. — and, ultimately, the players — is that even with the roofs closed, both stadiums are designed as open-air venues that cannot be sealed. They have air circulation systems that prevent moisture from settling on the court when the roof is closed, rather than fully operational air conditioning systems. On the bright side, the complex is just a stone’s throw from Flushing Bay, and when there is wind coming off the water, it can be cooler there than in many spots in New York City. Unfortunately, the wind has been lifeless in recent days.As players booked their spots in the semifinals set for Thursday and Friday, there seemed to be a clear pattern emerging — Florida. Two of the three women who had made the final four by late Wednesday afternoon, Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, make their homes there. A third, Madison Keys, who lives in Orlando, claimed the final spot on Wednesday night with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic. Ben Shelton, the 20-year-old with the cannon serve who will play Djokovic in the semifinals on Friday, lives in Gainesville, Fla.Aryna Sabalenka said training in Florida helped her cope with the heat during her quarterfinal win over Zheng Qinwen.Earl Wilson/The New York TimesSabalenka, who grew up in Belarus, hardly a tropical locale, credited her summer training near her home in Miami as she managed to resist wilting in Wednesday’s heat during her win over Zheng Qinwen of China.“What can be worse than Florida?” Sabalenka said.For Gauff, the 19-year-old from Delray Beach, Fla., who has become the darling of the tournament, the heat represents an opportunity to thrive rather than something to merely survive.“The hotter the better,” Gauff, who will face Karolina Muchova, of the rarely hot Czech Republic, on Thursday, has said on more than one occasion.That may be especially true against Muchova. She struggled against Gauff in the Ohio heat last month during the final of the Western & Southern Open. She walked onto the court for the warm-up that day, and said, “Oh, Jesus.”“Ouch,” she said when it was over.On Wednesday, one of Muchova’s coaches, Jaroslav Blazek, said he would have her focus on trying to keep her body cool. Many players have been sticking black hoses that spray cold air under their shirts during the changeovers. But he anticipated the challenge would be as much a mental battle as a physical one.“You should be ready that it’s going to be like in hell,” he said. More