Aryna Sabalenka has dealt with hostile crowds, late-night finishes and the pressure that comes with trying to win a third straight US Open title.
On Friday, the world No. 1 encountered a different kind of distraction.
Weed.
Sabalenka briefly stopped play during her third-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova at Louis Armstrong Stadium after a strong smell of marijuana drifted onto the court. Serving early in the first set, Sabalenka twice appeared distracted before walking toward chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore.
“Someone is smoking weed,” Sabalenka said. “Would you mind? Because it’s so strong.”
The source of the smell was never confirmed. No spectator was found smoking inside the stadium or removed, and Sabalenka acknowledged afterward that the odor could have been carried in by the wind from outside the grounds.
Whatever the source, Sabalenka made clear after her 6-3, 6-4 victory that the issue was not what anyone chose to do on their own time.
It was where they did it.
Sabalenka: ‘Please Do Not Do It Around the Tennis Courts’
“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,” Sabalenka told reporters. “It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best.”
Sabalenka said she had smelled cannabis around the US Open before, but never this strongly during a match.
Friday’s wind may have made the difference.
“I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium,” she said. “I just hope they are a bit more aware of that stuff.”
The USTA reiterated that the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is smoke-free and said security and guest-services personnel enforce the policy when alerted. Recreational marijuana is legal for adults in New York, but smoking is prohibited on the tournament grounds and in city parks.
The odor has become a strangely familiar subplot at Flushing Meadows. Nick Kyrgios and Maria Sakkari have complained about it in previous years, and the nearby Flushing Meadows-Corona Park has often been cited as a possible source when smoke drifts onto the courts.
Sabalenka Laughs Off Bizarre US Open Moment
For all her irritation in the moment, Sabalenka was smiling by the time she reached her postmatch news conference.
When the cannabis questions kept coming, she eventually laughed.
“Come on, guys. I think there is nothing else to say about weed,” Sabalenka said. “I’m just asking people not to smoke it next to the tennis court.”
She even joked about why anyone might want to alter the experience of watching her matches.
“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 interruption certainly did not slow Sabalenka.
She raced to a 3-0 lead before finishing Rakhimova in straight sets, extending her US Open winning streak to 16 matches and moving into the fourth round. Her next opponent will be American Taylor Townsend, who defeated Diana Shnaider in three sets.
Sabalenka is attempting to become the first woman since Serena Williams from 2012-14 to win three consecutive US Open titles.
The weed smell proved distracting enough to stop play for a moment.
It was nowhere near enough to stop Sabalenka.
Aryna Sabalenka Has Message for Fans After Bizarre US Open Distraction