Aryna Sabalenka's Unusual US Open Distraction: Cannabis Smell

Aryna Sabalenka sprinted out to a 3-0 lead, then suddenly stopped.

It wasn’t her serve that was the problem. It was the air.

Midway through her second service game in the US Open third round on Louis Armstrong Stadium, the world No 1 walked toward the chair and pointed out a sharp, unmistakable smell of cannabis drifting across the court. Play paused briefly as she raised the issue with the umpire, the interruption as jarring as it was unusual for a Grand Slam match.

The scene has become an odd, recurring subplot at Flushing Meadows. The whiff of cannabis has hovered over several courts in recent years, a distraction players have complained about even as the tournament insists smoking is not allowed inside the grounds.

The complication lies just beyond the fences. Recreational cannabis is legal for adults over 21 in New York, and smoke from people in the surrounding Flushing Meadows-Corona Park can easily ride the breeze into the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, slipping into stadiums and across the show courts.

On Friday, not even the top seed could avoid it. Sabalenka reset, the match resumed, and the scoreboard kept ticking in her favour. But for a few strange moments on Armstrong, the US Open’s most persistent sideshow once again stole the stage.