Aryna Sabalenka Overcomes Cannabis Distraction at US Open
Aryna Sabalenka wrinkled her nose, stepped back from the baseline and looked up into the stands at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The world No. 1 wasn’t rattled by Kamilla Rakhimova’s game. It was the air.
A thick smell of cannabis had drifted across the court during her second service game on Friday, with Sabalenka already racing ahead 3-0 in their US Open third-round clash. She paused, walked towards chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore and made her point.
“Someone is smoking weed. Would you mind to... because it's so strong,” Sabalenka told the umpire, gesturing towards the stands.
Asderaki-Moore immediately radioed tournament officials and mimed a smoking motion to alert staff. Members of the US Open team began moving through the seating sections, trying to pinpoint the source of the smell. Play halted only briefly. Sabalenka bounced on her toes, refocused, and within moments the match was back underway.
If the interruption bothered her, it never showed on the scoreboard. Sabalenka stayed in command against Uzbekistan’s Rakhimova, closing out a 6-3, 6-4 win to move into the fourth round and keep her title defence intact without dropping a set.
A growing US Open nuisance
The episode was not an isolated quirk of a New York night session. The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center borders Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where recreational cannabis use is legal for adults 21 and over. The stadium complex, however, is officially smoke-free. That mismatch has created a recurring problem: the smell from the park drifts over the grounds and, on certain courts, straight into the middle of elite matches.
Players have noticed. British No. 1 Katie Boulter spoke earlier in the tournament about the same issue, particularly around Court 17 and the practice courts.
“I have experienced it,” Boulter said. “You go down to the practice courts and down in the park courts, you do smell it a lot. I’m not a huge fan of it. I know a lot of players have complained on specific courts. I’ve played on (Court 17) before and I did smell it during my match. It’s something that I wouldn’t like to smell in the middle of my match.”
The USTA responded with a firm reminder of its policy, while acknowledging the limits of its reach: it cannot control what happens in the park beyond its fences, but insists it is “vigilant” in keeping the tennis center itself smoke-free.
On Friday, that line was tested again. The smell seeped in, the officials mobilised, and the world No. 1 had to push through a distraction no player expects at a Grand Slam.
She did exactly that. Sabalenka brushed off the oddity of the moment, tightened her grip on the match and walked off Armstrong with another straight-sets win and her title defence still running on schedule — even if the air around her was anything but clear.
