Belarusian professional tennis player Aryna Sabalenka stopped play at Friday’s U.S. Open match to ask judges to do something about the strong odor of marijuana she thought was coming from the stands.
Sabalenka, ranked as the world No. 1 player, appealed to umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore over the odor that was distracting her from her match.
“Someone is smoking weed,” Sabalenka told the umpire. “Would you mind telling them to deal with it? It’s so strong.”
In short order, members of the stadium staff began circulating through the stands to try to locate the source of the odor.
Sabalenka is not the first player to complain about the strong, acrid smell of pot lingering in the air at the US Open’s Louis Armstrong Stadium. As it happens, the open-air arena is situated right next to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a place popular with New York pot smokers. And many players have noted that the smell often wafts from the nearby park and into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
British player Katie Boulter recently told the media that she called one of the courts the “hash court” because of the strong stink of pot smoke, the Daily Mail reported.
“I have experienced it,” Boulter said, adding, “I’m not a huge fan of it. I know a lot of players have complained on specific courts. I’ve played on (Court 17) 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.”
The U.S. Tennis Association released a statement claiming to take the tennis environment seriously.
“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 facility as a smoke-free environment,” the group wrote.
“This includes enforcement by our security and guest services teams when they are made aware of any individual that may be smoking, making them aware that although it may be legal in New York, that smoking is not permitted on parks property, including the tennis center,” the organization continued.
“We constantly work with the NYPD and Parks Department, and we believe this has helped to decrease smoking near our fence line,” the USTA concluded.
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