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NEW YORK — Aryna Sabalenka finally found something that could stop her at the U.S. Open: the smell of marijuana.
The two-time defending champion complained to the chair umpire that it was bothering her early in her third-round victory over Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday.
Sabalenka said she had never smelled the odor so strong as she did while serving early in the match.
“I don’t know if it was, like, coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium,” Sabalenka said. “I don’t know. I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”
Sabalenka was serving in the third game of the match in Louis Armstrong Stadium. She tossed the ball but then let it fall to the court. She did the same thing on the next point, with something clearly bothering her.
She then approached the chair to ask for help.
“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 said, when asked what she was thinking of the time. “It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best.”
Other players, such as Nick Kyrgios and Maria Sakkari, have complained in the past about the smell of marijuana during their matches. There is a park behind the grounds where the U.S. Open is played, which is often the expected source of the smell.
No fans were found to be smoking and ejected from the tennis grounds.
“While we can’t control what takes place off the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, we continue to be vigilant as we maintain this facility as a smoke free environment,” U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Brendan McIntyre said in a statement. “This includes enforcement by our security and guest services teams when they are made aware of any individual that may be smoking, making them aware that although it may be legal in NY, that smoking is not permitted on parks property including the tennis center.”
The top-seeded Sabalenka eventually was able to laugh off the topic during her news conference after the match, including the idea that fans just might be looking for ways to further enjoy 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.”
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