Aryna Sabalenka Faces Distraction from Marijuana Odor at US Open
Aryna Sabalenka has spent the past two years bullying opponents off the court at the US Open. On Friday night in Louis Armstrong Stadium, something else tried to knock her off her stride.
The smell of marijuana.
Early in her third-round win over Kamilla Rakhimova, the top seed suddenly froze mid-service motion. She tossed the ball, let it drop. Did it again. Then walked straight to the chair umpire, clearly irritated, clearly distracted.
It wasn’t the opponent. It wasn’t the occasion. It was the air.
Sabalenka later said she had never experienced the odour as strongly as she did in those opening games.
“I don't know if it was, like, coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium,” she explained afterwards. “I don't know. I just hope they're going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”
The scene played out in the third game of the match. Sabalenka, serving, suddenly abandoned her routine. The second aborted toss made it obvious something was wrong. She stepped back, shook her head, then headed for the chair to ask for help, or at least for someone to acknowledge what she was dealing with.
Her message was blunt.
“I was like, guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please, to not do it around the tennis courts,” she said. “It's a bit tricky to handle that smell while you're trying to compete at your best.”
This isn’t a new subplot at Flushing Meadows. Nick Kyrgios has complained about it. Maria Sakkari has too. With a public park sitting just behind the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, the source is often suspected to be outside the gates, drifting in on the breeze rather than lit up in the stands.
On Friday, tournament officials said no fans were found smoking inside the grounds and no one was ejected.
The USTA moved quickly to underline its stance.
“While we can't control what takes place off the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, we continue to be vigilant as we maintain this facility as a smoke-free environment,” spokesperson Brendan McIntyre said in a statement. “This includes enforcement by our security and guest services teams when they are made aware of any individual that may be smoking, making them aware that although it may be legal in NY, smoking is not permitted on parks property including the tennis centre.”
Once the smell became just another nuisance to manage, Sabalenka did what she usually does in New York: she took control of the match and moved on. The incident didn’t derail her title defence, it only briefly interrupted it.
By the time she faced the media, the edge had gone from her voice. The champion who had bristled on court now smiled, even joked about the idea that fans might be trying to enhance the experience of watching her power game up close.
“Maybe it's too fast so they want to slow down a little bit, so who knows,” she said. “I don't know the effect from it.”
The tennis keeps coming, the stakes keep rising, and Sabalenka’s pursuit of a third straight US Open crown rolls on — with only the New York wind deciding what drifts across her path next.
