New York, 8 September 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Aryna Sabalenka came from a set and a break down to deny the US Open crowd an all-American final.

The second seed, who will rise to world number one on Monday, lost the first set to love against Madison Keys, but hit back to win 0-6, 7-6 (7-1), 10-5 and book a Saturday showdown with Coco Gauff.

Keys had slipped under the radar at this year's championships, but she announced herself inside Arthur Ashe Stadium as she raced through the first set in just 30 minutes.

The 17th seed went 4-2 up in the second and served for the match at 5-4, only for Sabalenka to break her to love and begin the comeback.

The Belarusian dominated the tie-break and the pair exchanged breaks in the third before it headed to the inevitable deciding breaker.

When Sabalenka got to 7-3 ahead she thought she had won the match, forgetting it was now first to 10, and dropped her racket in delight.

She managed to refocus, though, and wrapped up the victory in two-and-a-half hours.

Sabalenka said: "I thought we played a tie-break up to seven. I was all over the place. Thanks team for reminding me it's up to 10.

"She played incredible tennis, another level. Somehow, I don't know how actually I turned around this match. Being in the final of the US Open for the first time means a lot."

Earlier on Thursday, Gauff made it through to her first US Open final, but only after her last-four match against Karolina Muchova was suspended for more than 45 minutes when a protester glued his feet to the floor in the stands.

American teenager Gauff's 6-4, 7-5 victory was overshadowed by a small group of spectators wearing T-shirts bearing the words 'end fossil fuels' who began shouting, forcing play to be stopped.

Gauff and Czech 10th seed Muchova initially stayed on the court for about 10 minutes while security tried to deal with the situation.

The Arthur Ashe crowd at one point began chanting "kick them out" with the protesters apparently being difficult to shift despite being surrounded by around 12 police officers.

It soon became apparent that while three of the protesters had been removed, a fourth had glued his bare feet to the concrete.

"Are they like talking to them or are they going to remove them?" Gauff asked chair umpire Alison Hughes and tournament referee Jake Garner.

She then spoke to her coach, Brad Gilbert, saying "they say they are negotiating, like it's a hostage situation. What should I do?"

Gilbert was then heard to shout at Garner: "This is a joke, Jake."

Both players eventually left the court with Gauff leading 6-4, 1-0.

They returned at 8:50 pm (0050 GMT) when the third protester had finally been removed, and after a warm-up, play resumed 50 minutes after the last point.

Speaking to ESPN, tournament director Stacey Allaster said: "As we witnessed we had environment protesters up in the loge area.

"There were three. Two were removed. They quietly left. When security got there they found one of the protesters had physically glued himself, his bare feet, to the cement floor."

A statement from the USTA read: "Following the first game of the second set in the Gauff-Muchova match, play was halted due to a protest conducted by four spectators.

"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. In total, 49 minutes elapsed before play resumed."

Both players at least seemed to be able to put the incident behind them when the match resumed.

Muchova had treatment on what appeared to be an abdominal injury during the stoppage.

The Czech 10th seed saved a match point on the Gauff serve and five more on her own in the next game.

But the 19-year-old converted at the sixth attempt when Muchova went long to reach her second grand slam final.

"Thank you guys this is crazy," she told the crowd. "I grew up watching this tournament so it means a lot to be in the final."

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