Aryna Sabalenka Advances Despite Cannabis Distractions at US Open
Aryna Sabalenka briefly stopped her US Open march on Friday night, not because of anything coming off Kamilla Rakhimova’s racquet, but because of something drifting in from the stands.
A strong smell of cannabis swept across Louis Armstrong Stadium with Sabalenka already 3-0 up in the opening set. The top seed walked towards the chair, spoke to umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore and made her feelings clear: “Someone is smoking weed.” She asked for intervention, calling it “so strong” that it was affecting her.
Asderaki-Moore relayed the complaint over her radio and gestured towards the area behind her, a visual plea for the smoking to stop. The pause was brief. The focus, quickly, snapped back to the tennis. And once it did, Sabalenka did what Sabalenka does in New York.
The two-time defending champion brushed aside Rakhimova 6-3 6-4, powering into the fourth round and extending her winning streak at Flushing Meadows to 16 matches. She is now edging closer to rare territory: a third straight US Open singles title, something no woman has managed since Serena Williams dominated this court from 2012 to 2014.
Match Performance
If the smell in the air was distracting, the numbers on the scoreboard were ruthless. Sabalenka dropped just four points on serve in a commanding first set, her delivery thundering through the humid evening. Rakhimova, representing Uzbekistan, struggled to get any kind of read on it. The rallies that did develop usually ended with the Belarusian unloading from the baseline, the familiar heavy strike that has become a fixture of the New York night sessions.
The second set had more resistance. Rakhimova settled, held serve with greater authority and began to stretch points, forcing Sabalenka to hit her way out of a few tight corners. For a while, it looked like the contest might finally catch fire.
Then the top seed tightened the screw.
At 4-4, Sabalenka pounced. The pressure told in one sharp, decisive game as she earned the crucial break to move 5-4 ahead. From there, she was ice-cold. Serving for the match, she gave Rakhimova no hint of a lifeline, closing it out without facing a single break point all evening.
The serve told the story. Ten aces for Sabalenka. Just two for Rakhimova. No break points faced by the champion. It was the kind of serving performance that wins hard-court majors and crushes hope early in the second week.
Cannabis Concerns
The cannabis issue, though, will linger around this tournament. Sabalenka is not alone in noticing it. Earlier in the week, Britain’s Katie Boulter described the smell as distracting. Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones also commented on it. In previous years, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have raised similar complaints.
Smoking is not allowed on site at Flushing Meadows, but the open layout and proximity to Corona Park mean that the scent of cannabis often drifts across the courts. With recreational use legal in New York for adults over 21, the clash between city life and Grand Slam tennis keeps resurfacing in the most literal way.
For Sabalenka, though, the outside noise – and smell – remains just that: outside. On court, the mission is clear. She is chasing a fifth Grand Slam singles title, and her tennis so far in this campaign has looked every bit like that of a player comfortable with the weight of history.
Next up, she will face either American Taylor Townsend or Russian 15th seed Diana Shnaider, the latter having beaten her in the French Open quarter-finals in June. A familiar threat, a partisan crowd, or both could be waiting.
Sabalenka has already shown she can handle distractions drifting in from beyond the baseline. The real question now is whether anyone inside the lines can stop her.
