Aryna Sabalenka's Focus Amidst Cannabis Distractions at US Open

Aryna Sabalenka wrinkled her nose, took a step back from the baseline and looked up at the chair umpire. The tennis was going smoothly. The air was not.

Midway through her second service game on Louis Armstrong Stadium, with a 3-0 lead over Kamilla Rakhimova and her title defence firmly on track, the world No. 1 stopped, walked toward chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore and made her point.

“Someone is smoking weed. Would you mind to... because it's so strong,” Sabalenka said, gesturing toward the stands.

The exchange was brief but telling. Asderaki-Moore immediately radioed tournament officials and mimed a smoking action toward staff, who began moving through the lower sections of the stadium, trying to trace the source of the smell that had drifted across the court.

For a moment, the match hung in the haze. Then Sabalenka reset.

She returned to the baseline, tightened her focus and resumed the routine that has made her the dominant force in the women’s game. The interruption lasted only a few moments; the control she exerted over Rakhimova lasted the entire afternoon.

Sabalenka closed out a 6-3, 6-4 win, never truly threatened, and marched into the fourth round without dropping a set in this year’s US Open. The distraction became just another problem she solved on court.

A recurring smell around Flushing Meadows

What happened on Armstrong was not an isolated curiosity. The whiff of cannabis has become a recurring subplot at this year’s tournament.

The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center sits directly beside Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where recreational cannabis use is legal for adults 21 and over in New York. That proximity has created an awkward contrast: legal smoke in the park, a strict ban inside the grounds.

Smoking of any kind is prohibited at the US Open, yet the breeze does not respect signage. When the wind turns the wrong way, the scent carries over the fences and into the courts, drifting into matches and practice sessions alike.

British player Katie Boulter had already raised the issue publicly, pointing to one venue in particular.

“I have experienced it,” Boulter said. “You got 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.”

Her words framed Friday’s incident as part of a pattern rather than a one-off annoyance.

In response to mounting complaints, the USTA reiterated its stance in a statement, stressing that while it cannot control what happens beyond the perimeter of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, it remains “vigilant” in keeping the facility itself smoke-free.

The challenge is clear: the rules stop at the gates, the wind does not.

Champion’s focus intact

On court, Sabalenka treated the moment as a minor detour, not a turning point.

Once play resumed, she resumed dictating. The first set slipped away from Rakhimova 6-3, the second 6-4, with Sabalenka’s power and authority never really in doubt. The scoreline reflected a straightforward win; the brief pause only underlined how locked in she remains.

The defending champion leaves Armstrong with another straight-sets victory, her campaign unblemished so far. The smell may linger around Flushing Meadows, but Sabalenka’s message was sharper than anything in the air: distractions are out there, the title is still right in front of her.