Cannabis smoke turned into an unlikely on-court disruption at the US Open, forcing world number one Aryna Sabalenka to pause her third round match and flag the smell to the chair umpire. Disruptions of this kind are rare at Grand Slam level, but the smell of marijuana smoke has now become a recurring talking point at this year's tournament.
What happened at Louis Armstrong Stadium
The incident took place during Sabalenka's third round match against Kamilla Rakhimova at Louis Armstrong Stadium. As Sabalenka walked to the south end of the court to serve, she was hit by a strong smell of marijuana smoke drifting in from somewhere in the crowd. The smell was strong enough to break her concentration, and she walked straight up to chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore to report it. She told the umpire that someone among the spectators was smoking weed and that the smoke was reaching the court. Sabalenka said, "Someone is smoking weed. Do you mind? Because it's so strong." The exchange was referenced by a social media account called The Tennis Letter on X on September 4, 2026, which quoted her comments to the umpire.
How the umpire and tournament staff responded
As soon as Asderaki-Moore heard the complaint, she immediately alerted tournament officials and signalled to staff to flag the smoking so it could be traced. Members of the US Open team then went up into the stands to try to locate where the smell was coming from. The whole exercise, however, did not hold up the match for long, and Sabalenka was ready to resume play within a few minutes. The brief interruption had no visible effect on her form: she went on to beat Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 in the third round, sending her through to the fourth round.
A complaint that has followed the tournament since it began
This is not the first time the smell of marijuana smoke has been raised at this year's US Open. Players had flagged very similar problems right at the start of the tournament as well, which suggests this is not a one-off incident but a recurring issue through the fortnight. The reason is straightforward: in New York, where the tournament is being staged, marijuana, or weed, is legal, just as it is for adults over the age of 21 across the rest of the United States, which makes it difficult to stop people from smoking it in the open areas around the stadium. Smoking of any kind is banned inside the stadium premises during matches, but smoke drifting in from the adjoining park keeps finding its way onto the court, becoming a recurring irritant for players in the middle of play. Unless surveillance is stepped up in the public areas surrounding the stadium, such complaints could keep resurfacing as the tournament progresses.
