At the intersection of professional sport and urban life, world number one Aryna Sabalenka paused her US Open third-round match in New York to alert the umpire that cannabis smoke drifting onto Louis Armstrong Stadium was impairing her concentration. The incident reflects a quiet tension that has settled over Flushing Meadows in recent years: recreational cannabis is lawful in New York, the surrounding park is public, and the wind does not observe tournament boundaries. Sabalenka's measured response — neither outrage nor indifference — invites a broader question about how major sporting instit
Sabalenka Pauses US Open Match Over Cannabis Smell at Flushing Meadows
It's a bit tricky to handle that smell while you're trying to compete at your best.
Mark
So Sabalenka actually stopped the match? How long did that pause last?
Mimi
It was brief—she was serving at 30-0, she mentioned it to the umpire, and play resumed. It wasn't a lengthy stoppage, just enough to flag the problem.
Luke
Right, but we should be clear: the source doesn't say exactly how long the pause was. We know it happened, we know what she said, but the duration isn't specified.
Mark
Has this happened to other players at the US Open before?
Mimi
Yes, players have complained about cannabis smoke at Flushing Meadows in the past. It's become a recurring issue because recreational cannabis is legal in New York for adults 21 and older, and the park sits right next to the tennis complex.
Luke
The source says players have complained "in the past," but it doesn't name specific players or incidents. We know it's a pattern, but we don't have a detailed history of when or how often it's happened.
Mark
Why is the smoke getting in if smoking isn't allowed on the grounds?
Mimi
The smoke is coming from outside the complex—from people in the surrounding Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The wind carries it over the boundary and into the stadium. It's a geography problem, not a rule-breaking problem.
Luke
That's the working theory, anyway. Sabalenka said she didn't know if it was coming from the crowd or from outside because of the wind. So there's some uncertainty about the exact source.
Mark
What was Sabalenka's actual complaint? Was she angry?
Mimi
Not angry at all. She was respectful about it. She said people can do what they want, but asked them not to do it near the tennis courts because it's hard to concentrate while competing at the highest level.
Luke
And she won the match in straight sets, so it didn't derail her performance. The complaint was more about the principle of the thing—maintaining focus during competition.
Mark
Is there any indication that the tournament will do something about this?
Mimi
The source doesn't say. It's left open as a potential issue that organizers might need to address.
Luke
Exactly. The forward-looking metadata mentions ventilation or boundary enforcement, but that's editorial speculation, not reporting. We don't actually know what, if anything, the US Open plans to do.
Il Polso
- Mid-match, with a 3-0 lead in hand, Sabalenka stopped serving to tell umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that cannabis smoke was strong enough to break her focus at the sport's highest level.
- The disruption points to a structural vulnerability: Flushing Meadows-Corona Park sits directly beside the tennis complex, and wind carries whatever is burning in the park straight onto the courts.
- Sabalenka was careful not to moralize — she explicitly said people could smoke what they liked — but drew a firm line at doing so near the courts where athletes are competing.
- This is not a new problem; players have raised the issue in previous US Open editions, yet the tournament has yet to implement a lasting solution.
- Tournament organizers now face pressure to act, whether through ventilation improvements, clearer perimeter enforcement, or coordination with city park authorities, before the distraction becomes a defining story of the event.
At the intersection of professional sport and urban life, world number one Aryna Sabalenka paused her US Open third-round match in New York to alert the umpire that cannabis smoke drifting onto Louis Armstrong Stadium was impairing her concentration. The incident reflects a quiet tension that has settled over Flushing Meadows in recent years: recreational cannabis is lawful in New York, the surrounding park is public, and the wind does not observe tournament boundaries. Sabalenka's measured response — neither outrage nor indifference — invites a broader question about how major sporting institutions adapt when the laws and habits of the city they inhabit follow them inside.
Aryna Sabalenka was well in command of her third-round US Open match against Kamilla Rakhimova when she did something unusual: she stopped play to speak to the umpire about cannabis smoke drifting across the court. Leading 3-0 and serving at 30-0, she paused to tell umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore, "Someone is smoking weed — it's so strong." The interruption was brief, and Sabalenka went on to win in straight sets, but the moment lingered.
Speaking to reporters afterward, her tone was light rather than combative. She was not objecting to cannabis use itself — recreational use is legal in New York for adults 21 and over — but asking that it simply not happen near the courts. "You can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please not around the tennis courts," she said, smiling. "It's a bit tricky to handle that smell while you're trying to compete at your best."
The geography of the venue makes the problem persistent. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park wraps around the tennis complex, and wind patterns regularly carry smoke from the public grounds into the stadium. Smoking is banned within the tournament itself, but the boundary between the event and the surrounding city is porous in ways that rules alone cannot fix. Players have raised the issue in previous years, and Friday's strong wind simply made it impossible to ignore.
When reporters kept returning to the subject, Sabalenka laughed it off. "I think there is nothing else to say about weed," she said. The comment captured the quiet absurdity of the situation — a world-ranked athlete having to negotiate, mid-match, with the ambient habits of a city that does not pause for tennis. Whether organizers will finally address it in any lasting way remains an open question.
Aryna Sabalenka, the world's top-ranked tennis player, stopped play during her third-round US Open match on Friday to address something that had nothing to do with her opponent's serve. A strong smell of cannabis had drifted onto the Louis Armstrong Stadium court, and it was distracting enough that she felt compelled to alert the umpire.
Sabalenka was already in control of the match against Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan, having built a 3-0 lead. When she was serving at 30-0 in her second service game, she paused and spoke directly to umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore. "Someone is smoking weed," she said. "Would you mind to… because it's so strong." The interruption was brief enough that it barely registered as a disruption to the flow of play, but it was notable enough that it warranted mention. Sabalenka went on to win the match in straight sets.
After the match, Sabalenka addressed the incident with reporters, and her tone was measured rather than indignant. She made clear she wasn't objecting to people enjoying themselves or using a substance that is legal in New York for adults 21 and older. What she was asking for was simple: keep the smoking away from 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," she said, smiling as she spoke. "It's a bit tricky to handle that smell while you're trying to compete at your best."
This was not Sabalenka's first encounter with cannabis smoke at the US Open. She said she had smelled it before during the tournament, but never with such intensity during an actual match. Friday's wind appeared to be the culprit—it was carrying the odor either from spectators in the crowd or from the surrounding Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which sits adjacent to the tennis complex. The geography of the venue means that smoke from outside the grounds can easily drift into the stadium.
The issue is a recurring one at Flushing Meadows. While smoking is prohibited within the tournament grounds themselves, recreational cannabis is legal throughout New York State for adults over 21. That legal status, combined with the proximity of the public park and the vagaries of wind patterns, has created a situation where players have complained about the distraction in previous years. It is an unusual problem for a major tennis tournament to face—one that sits at the intersection of public health policy, venue management, and the practical realities of competing at the highest level of professional sport.
Sabalenka's complaint was not angry or accusatory. When reporters continued to circle back to the subject, she laughed and tried to move on. "Come on, guys. I think there is nothing else to say about weed. I'm just asking people not to smoke it next to the tennis court," she said. The comment captured something of the absurdity of the situation—a world-class athlete having to pause mid-match to address an environmental distraction that has nothing to do with tennis itself. Whether tournament organizers will take steps to address the issue—through improved ventilation, clearer boundary enforcement, or some other measure—remains to be seen.
Citazioni salienti
Someone is smoking weed. Would you mind to… because it's so strong.— Sabalenka to umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore
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 to reporters after the match
Vuoi la storia completa?
Leggi l'originale su Al Jazeera ↗
Sports