Sabalenka Overcomes Cannabis Distraction to Reach US Open Round 4

Aryna Sabalenka’s title defence briefly paused for an off-court issue that has become an on-court talking point in New York: the smell of cannabis drifting across Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Three games into her US Open third-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova, the top seed stopped, walked towards the chair and made her point clear to umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore: “Someone is smoking weed.”

She asked the umpire to step in “because it’s so strong”. Asderaki-Moore relayed the concern over her radio and gestured towards the stands, a mime of smoking making it obvious what the discussion was about. Then, with the matter acknowledged if not fully resolved, they played on.

From there, Sabalenka did what she has done relentlessly at Flushing Meadows for the past three years: she took control and never really let it go.

The two-time defending champion beat Uzbekistan’s Rakhimova 6-3 6-4, moving into the fourth round and extending her winning streak at the US Open to 16 matches. She is now three wins away from a third straight title, a feat last achieved by Serena Williams between 2012 and 2014.

The cannabis issue is not new in Queens. This tournament has already heard complaints from Katie Boulter, who called the smell distracting, while Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones also noticed it during their matches. In previous years Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have raised the same concern.

Smoking is not allowed on site at Flushing Meadows, but the courts sit hard by Corona Park, where cannabis is legal for adults 21 and over. When the wind turns, the odour comes with it.

Sabalenka refused to let it derail her. The 28-year-old came out hitting with her usual ferocity, ripping through the opening set with minimal fuss. She dropped only four points on serve in that first set, her delivery landing with a thud that Rakhimova could rarely get a clean swing at.

The numbers told the story. Ten aces to Rakhimova’s two. Not a single break point faced. When Sabalenka found her spots, the rallies barely started.

Rakhimova, to her credit, dug in during the second set. She held firm through the early games, began to read a few returns and at least forced Sabalenka to think. The match tightened. The crowd sensed it.

Then the pressure told.

At 4-4, Sabalenka pounced. One loose service game from Rakhimova was all she needed. The top seed broke to lead 5-4, then walked to the line to serve for the match with the calm of someone who has done this on this stage many times before.

Four points later, it was over. Another straight-sets win, another step in a campaign that is starting to feel familiar.

What is not familiar is the path ahead. Sabalenka will next face either American Taylor Townsend, with her attacking instincts and home-crowd energy, or Russian 15th seed Diana Shnaider, who beat Sabalenka in the French Open quarter-finals in June.

The streak is intact. The standard remains brutal. And with the smell of Corona Park occasionally drifting across the courts, Sabalenka’s focus looks like the only thing in New York that isn’t going anywhere.