US Open Players Face Unwanted Distraction from Marijuana Smell
The grass-court season is supposed to end at Wimbledon. For Britain’s US Open hopefuls, though, the lingering smell of summer has followed them to New York – and it is not freshly cut lawns.
At Flushing Meadows, the aroma drifting over the outside courts is marijuana.
With cannabis legal for adults in New York, and Corona Park pressed right up against the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, a haze from beyond the perimeter fence has become an unwanted extra for some players trying to qualify or practise in peace. Smoking is not allowed on site, but that has not stopped the scent from seeping into the tennis.
Katie Boulter, the British No 1, has had enough of it.
“Yeah, I have experienced it,” she said. “You go down to the practice courts and down in the park courts, you do smell it a lot. But, yeah, I’m not a huge fan of it. I know a lot of players have complained on some of the specific courts.
“I’ve played on one before and I did smell it during my match. It’s something that I wouldn’t like to smell in the middle of my match. I’m trying to focus and then obviously, it takes you out of the moment and you really don’t want to. You don’t need distractions. So yeah, I wasn’t a huge fan of it.”
The distraction might sound trivial from the stands. On court, in the heat and noise of New York, it is one more thing to block out.
Fran Jones, Britain’s No 3, tried to laugh it off when she first encountered it.
“Last year I made a joke about that, in my first round, and I said to the guy: ‘Is this normal?’” she recalled. “Because I was on the stadium, and it’s next to the park. He’s like: ‘Yeah’. And I was: ‘Well, no wonder I’m playing pretty well’.
“This year I’ll be like: ‘No, lock in, lock in!’”
Harriet Dart, who joined Jones in coming through qualifying, struck a more resigned note. This is New York, after all.
“I mean it’s New York. It’s New York,” she said. “I feel like everywhere you walk around, it’s everywhere, no? It is what it is. Same for everyone.”
Tournament organisers insist they are doing what they can within their boundaries. In a statement, the USTA said: “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.” The message is clear: they can police the courts, not the park.
For the British contingent, the task is simple but unforgiving – block out the smell, the sirens, the chatter, and the chaos that makes the US Open unique, and find a way to win.
Fery handed first ATP final after Duckworth injury
Away from New York, one Briton has already carved out a significant milestone.
Arthur Fery reached the first ATP Tour final of his career at the Winston-Salem Open, though not in the fashion he might have imagined. The 21-year-old advanced when James Duckworth retired from their semi-final with an apparent right leg injury.
Fery led 6-4, 1-2 when the Australian called it a day. The Briton had taken control by breaking at 4-4 in the opening set, then held his nerve as the second stayed on serve until Duckworth could not continue.
It still counts. It still goes on the record. And it sends Fery into a Saturday final in North Carolina that could reshape his season.
Waiting for him there is Ignacio Buse, the Peruvian who ground past France’s Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Buse sits one place above Fery in the rankings at No 36 and will arrive as the 32nd seed at the upcoming French Open, a marker of how quickly his own rise has come.
For Fery, this is a chance to claim a first ATP title against a direct rival in the ranking pack. For Buse, it is an opportunity to underline his seeding credentials before Paris.
For both, Winston-Salem is no warm-up sideshow. It is a springboard.
