Why Marijuana Smoke Keeps Creeping Into US Open Matches
A strong smell of cannabis can interrupt a tennis match in a way no amount of crowd noise can. This is what happened when Aryna Sabalenka stopped her US Open match over the smell, and why New York's legal weed makes it a recurring problem.
A Stoppage Over a Smell
Aryna Sabalenka was leading 3-0 in her third-round match when she walked over to chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore and complained. According to The Guardian, she said: "Someone is smoking weed, do you mind … because it's so strong." The match paused while she made her point. She was smiling, but her annoyance was clear.
After the match, Sabalenka was blunt. "I was, like, Guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please, do not do it around the tennis courts. It's a bit tricky to handle that smell while you're trying to compete at your best."
The Wind, the Crowd, or Something Else
Sabalenka did not know where the smoke came from. At first she thought a spectator near the court might be responsible. Later she said the smell was stronger than anything she had experienced in her years of playing in New York. Wind made it harder to trace. She did not know if the smell was coming from the crowd or from outside and blowing into the stadium. The exact source was never confirmed.
That kind of uncertainty is common at an outdoor tournament. Odors move, dissipate, and mix with everything else in the air. By the time a player says something, the source may be gone.
New York's Legal Weed Complicates the Court
Cannabis is legal in New York. As The Guardian notes, weed can be smelled around the tournament grounds just as it can be smelled around the rest of the city. That legal status helps explain why the smell has become a common talking point at the US Open in recent years. It also makes the issue hard to police. An official cannot easily identify one smoker in a large crowd.
What the Episode Says About the US Open
Sabalenka comfortably reached the fourth round, so the interruption did not change her result. But the episode showed that environmental distractions are not limited to weather. A smell can force a player to stop, involve the umpire, and shift the tone of a match. For Sabalenka, the request was simple: keep the smoke away from the courts. Whether that is enforceable in a city where weed is legal is another question.