Aryna Sabalenka wrinkled her nose, paused mid-match, and walked towards the chair umpire. The tennis was sharp, the lead secure, but something else was hanging in the New York air.
Not nerves. Not tension.
Weed.
The world No. 1 was cruising 3-0 in the opening set of her US Open third-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova on Louis Armstrong Stadium on Friday when a strong cannabis smell drifted across the court. As she stepped up to serve in her second service game, Sabalenka stopped, turned to chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore and made her point.
“Someone is smoking weed. Would you mind to... because it's so strong,” she said, clearly unhappy with the distraction.
Asderaki-Moore immediately radioed tournament officials and mimed a smoking gesture toward staff, sending members of the US Open team into the stands to try to locate the source. The delay lasted only moments, but it underlined an increasingly familiar subplot at this year’s tournament.
Once the brief interruption passed, Sabalenka flicked the switch back to business. The rhythm returned quickly. She tightened her grip on the match, took the first set 6-3, and never truly allowed Rakhimova a way back, closing out a 6-3, 6-4 win to move into the fourth round without dropping a set.
The tennis was routine. The smell was not.
A recurring haze over Flushing Meadows
This was not an isolated complaint. The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center sits alongside Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, where recreational cannabis use is legal for adults 21 and over in New York. That legality stops at the gates: the US Open remains a smoke-free venue, with smoking of any kind banned inside the grounds.
The problem is the breeze doesn’t recognise boundaries.
Players have spoken about the scent drifting over from the park and lingering around certain courts. British player Katie Boulter recently described how noticeable it can be, especially near Court 17 and the practice areas.
“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 tournament organisers are acutely aware of the optics. In a statement, the USTA stressed its stance: while it cannot control what happens in the surrounding park, it remains “vigilant” in maintaining a smoke-free environment inside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
On Friday, that vigilance was tested again on one of the biggest stages on site.
Sabalenka’s focus holds firm
If the smell threatened to intrude, it never derailed Sabalenka’s title defence.
She reset quickly after her conversation with the umpire, imposed her power game on Rakhimova and managed the scoreboard with the calm of a reigning champion. The Belarusian’s straight-sets win extended her run in New York without the loss of a set, her campaign for back-to-back US Open titles still very much on track.
The distraction came and went. The questions about air quality and player comfort will linger longer.
Sabalenka, though, leaves Louis Armstrong Stadium exactly where she expected to be: still in the draw, still in control, and still the player everyone else has to chase.
