Aryna Sabalenka briefly stopped her match at the US Open to complain about the strong smell of cannabis on her court as she comfortably reached the fourth round in New York. Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, continued her attempts to rebuild her form as she overcame a challenging test from Kamilla Rakhimova before winning 6-3, 6-4. Early in the match, a smiling Sabalenka approached the chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore while leading 3-0, stating “Someone is smoking weed, do you mind … because it’s so strong,” Afterwards, Sabalenka laughed as she described her interaction with the umpire: “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.” Cannabis is legal in New York and weed can be smelled around tournament grounds, as is the case all around the city. This has become a common talking point at the US Open in recent years. Although Sabalenka initially seemed to believe that the smoke may have been coming from a spectator in or right by the crowd, she later said she was unclear about its origins but the smell of cannabis was stronger than she had ever smelt it during her years of competing in New York: “That strong, yeah.
Also, because it was a bit windy. 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. I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff,” she said.
Most importantly for Sabalenka, she has returned to the round of 16 without dropping a set and she appears to be finding some rhythm on the court. This victory was spearheaded by a stellar serving performance, with the Belarusian serving 10 aces and facing zero break points. She had arrived in New York in some of her most difficult form for years, having failed to reach a final since spectacularly winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back in March.
Sabalenka will lose her No 1 ranking, which she has held for 97 weeks, unless she wins her third US Open title in a row and Elena Rybakina, the world No 2, loses before the semi-finals. Although Sabalenka has put together a series of encouraging performances on-court, the added pressure on her shoulders has perhaps been revealed elsewhere. After her dominant second round win over Polina Iatcenko, Sabalenka clashed with a reporter in her post-match press conference when the reporter described her week before the US Open as “parties and fun”.
This was the second time during the tournament that a reporter had referenced pre-tournament obligations leading up to the US Open, prompting a forceful response from Sabalenka: “You guys are, like, a joke,” she said. Why would you even think about that? What kind of question is that?
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