Aryna Sabalenka Dominates Despite Cannabis Distraction at US Open
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka moved into the fourth round of the US Open with the kind of routine win that sends a message. The Belarusian swept past Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 at Louis Armstrong Stadium, never facing a single break point.
The scoreline was clean. The night was not.
Midway through the match, Sabalenka halted play and turned to the chair umpire, complaining about a strong smell of cannabis drifting through the arena. It cut through the usual New York noise – the chatter, the music, the hum of a late-summer evening – and straight into the rhythm of the match.
She later made it clear she has no issue with people unwinding, but drew a firm line at doing it near the courts. The smell, she said, makes it harder to lock in during competition. On a night when her serve and groundstrokes looked sharp, it was the one distraction she refused to ignore.
The backdrop is uniquely New York. Recreational cannabis is legal in the state, but smoking is banned on US Open grounds. With Flushing Meadows-Corona Park wrapped around the tennis complex, smoke from outside can drift into the stadiums and walkways, creating an awkward clash between city law and tournament rules.
On court, though, Sabalenka stayed ruthless. She dominated behind her serve, controlled the baseline exchanges and kept Rakhimova at arm’s length throughout. No break points faced, no real drama in the rallies. Just a brief pause to complain, then straight back to business.
Her reward is a fourth-round meeting with American Taylor Townsend, who came through a bruising three-setter against Diana Shnaider, 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3. Townsend, a crowd favourite in New York, brings variety, touch and a willingness to charge the net. Sabalenka brings raw power and top-seed authority. The atmosphere for that one will not need any extra smoke.
Alcaraz returns from injury and looks like himself again
On the men’s side, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz delivered the kind of performance that will settle nerves in his camp and unsettle everyone else. Playing his first major after more than four months out with a wrist injury, the Spaniard dismantled Wu Yibing 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
The score tells part of the story. The way he moved told the rest.
Alcaraz sprinted, slid and twisted around the baseline with the freedom that had been missing since his layoff. Point by point, he grew into the match, layering in the drop shots, the sudden accelerations, the fearless backhand up the line. He said he feels better with every outing and is surprised by how quickly his level is returning. On this evidence, the defending champion is not easing his way back – he is accelerating.
Next up is 20th seed Tommy Paul, a sharp, athletic American who loves a scrap and will have the crowd at his back. It is the kind of matchup that tests both the wrist and the resolve.
Medvedev in cruise control, Americans push on
Daniil Medvedev, a former champion in New York, produced a clinical, almost metronomic win over Arthur Rinderknech, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. No fuss, no sag in concentration, just the familiar wall of flat groundstrokes and deep returns that slowly smother an opponent’s belief.
Eleventh seed Frances Tiafoe kept the home charge moving with a confident 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Valentin Vacherot. Tiafoe fed off the energy of the crowd, mixing heavy hitting with quick-fire forays to the net, keeping the match on his terms from the start.
Ben Shelton, one of the most explosive young Americans on tour, had to work harder. He edged past Denis Shapovalov in four sets, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4. The match swung on a handful of big serves and fearless forehands in the tight moments, with Shelton’s raw power and growing composure carrying him through a tricky test.
Kostyuk surges, Svitolina falls
On the women’s side, Ukraine’s 11th seed Marta Kostyuk delivered one of the more assured performances of the round, sweeping past Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2. She controlled the tempo, stepped inside the baseline and never allowed Alexandrova to dictate.
Kostyuk now faces Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova in a standout clash of rising forces. Noskova arrives with the confidence of a recent major title; Kostyuk with the momentum of a clean, commanding win in New York. It has the feel of a match that could shape the women’s draw.
For Elina Svitolina, the tournament ended earlier than she would have hoped. The Ukrainian fell 3-6, 6-2, 3-6 to Anna Kalinskaya in a stop-start contest that never quite settled into her rhythm. Svitolina fought back strongly in the second set, but Kalinskaya’s aggression in the decider pushed her out of the event.
New York rarely does quiet storylines. Sabalenka’s dominance, Alcaraz’s resurgence, the American surge, Kostyuk’s rise – the second week is loading up with intrigue. The only real question now is whose game, and whose nerve, will hold when the noise in Flushing Meadows reaches its peak.
