Coco Gauff beat Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 to reach her first U.S Open singles final on Thursday night.

The match was delayed for more than 45 minutes after climate change protesters interfered at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Individuals wearing T-shirts bearing the words ‘fossil fuels’ were seen shouting after the first game of the second set. This forced play to be stopped.

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Initially, Gauff and Muchova remained on the court for close to 10 minutes while security tried to address the situation. However, they eventually left the court with the American leading 6-4 1-0.

Upon resumption, Gauff got the better of the Czech 10th seed to sail through to the U.S Open final.

“Some of those points were so loud I don’t know if my ears are going to be OK,” Gauff said in her on-court interview.

The 19-year-old will now face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Saturday.

Sabalenka will emerge the world No. 1 when the new rankings come out next week.

She eliminated American Madison Keys in a challenging three-set match that finished 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (10-5).

“Amazing player,” Sabalenka said of Gauff. “I’ll be fighting for every point.”