Aryna Sabalenka Faces Distraction at US Open Due to Marijuana Smell

Aryna Sabalenka has bulldozed her way through most problems at the US Open over the past two years. On Friday in New York, the world No.1 finally met an opponent she couldn’t simply hit off the court: the smell of marijuana drifting across Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Early in her third-round win over Kamilla Rakhimova, Sabalenka suddenly stopped mid-service motion. Ball tossed, racket ready, she froze. The ball dropped to the court. She tried again on the next point. Same result. Something was clearly wrong.

It wasn’t her shoulder. It wasn’t her timing. It was the air.

Sabalenka walked toward the chair umpire, clearly irritated, and asked for help as the odour thickened around her.

"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 said later. "I don't know. I just hope they're going to be a bit more aware of that stuff."

The incident unfolded in the third game of the match, with Sabalenka trying to find her rhythm in a stadium that suddenly smelled less like a Grand Slam venue and more like a city park on a summer evening. She tried to block it out, but the distraction lingered.

On court, she had a simple message in mind.

"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 in New York. Nick Kyrgios and Maria Sakkari have both complained in previous years about marijuana wafting into their matches. Behind the US Open grounds sits a public park, long suspected as the source whenever players wrinkle their noses and glance toward the stands.

On Friday, no fans were identified as smoking inside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and nobody was removed from the grounds.

The US Tennis Association 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," USTA 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 moment passed, Sabalenka did what she usually does in New York: she took control of the match and moved through to the next round. The distraction became just another odd chapter in a tournament that has seen her dominate the draw in recent years.

By the time she faced reporters, the edge in her voice had softened. The irritation gave way to a smile, and she even entertained the idea that some spectators might be trying to enhance their viewing experience in their own way.

"Maybe it's too fast so they want to slow down a little bit, so who knows," she joked. "I don't know the effect from it."

The tennis, as always with Sabalenka at the US Open, remains the main act. But as the wind continues to swirl through Flushing Meadows and the park behind the grounds stays busy, the question lingers: how many more big matches will be played with an unwelcome haze drifting in from the outside?