World number one Aryna Sabalenka briefly stopped her US Open third-round match on Friday after a strong cannabis smell drifted onto the court at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York.
Sabalenka raised the issue with chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore during her second service game against Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova. The top seed was serving at 30-0 when she alerted the umpire to the smell before play resumed.
The interruption did not derail Sabalenka, who had raced to a 3-0 lead and went on to defeat Rakhimova in straight sets.
Sabalenka later told reporters she had no objection to people smoking away from the courts but said the strong smell made it difficult to compete at her best. She said Friday’s windy conditions may have carried the smoke into the stadium.
WEED smoke interrupts SABALENKA MATCH — WORLD NO. 1 demands PAUSE over ‘SO STRONG’ SMELL
‘Someone is smoking WEED’ — SABALENKA tells UMPIRE
‘Do whatever… smoke whatever… relax as much as you can… PLEASE, do not do it around tennis courts’ pic.twitter.com/cMND5fcXT9
— RT (@RT_com) September 4, 2026Cannabis odour has previously drawn complaints from players at Flushing Meadows. Smoking is prohibited inside the US Open grounds, while recreational cannabis is legal in New York for adults aged 21 and older. Smoke from the surrounding Flushing Meadows-Corona Park can reach the tennis complex.
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World number three Jessica Pegula, playing nearby at Arthur Ashe Stadium, also raised concerns about outside distractions affecting matches. On cannabis smoking around the courts, Pegula said: “You probably just shouldn’t do that.”
