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World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Russian player Kamilla Rakhimova, competing as a neutral athlete, in the second round of the US Open on Friday, September 4, 2026. But during the match, she found herself battling another opponent: the pungent smell of marijuana.

In the first set at Louis Armstrong Stadium, with Sabalenka leading 3-0, the tennis star was forced to interrupt play and alert the chair umpire after the distinctive odor drifted through the air.

“I thought, ‘Guys, you can do whatever you want, you can smoke whatever you want, relax however you want, but please don’t do it around the tennis courts,’” she later told reporters. “It’s pretty tough to deal with that smell during a match when you’re trying to play your best tennis.”

Recreational marijuana use is legal in New York, but strict rules apply at sporting venues.

The chair umpire relayed the information over her radio and then made a smoking gesture toward someone among the staff behind her. Security officers checked the stands, but were unable to determine the exact source of the smell.

In an official statement, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) said:

“While we cannot control what happens outside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, we continue to maintain the facility as a smoke-free environment. Our security and guest services teams address any attempts to smoke. We remind guests that, although marijuana is legal in New York, smoking is prohibited in city parks and at the tennis center.”

Sabalenka, a two-time US Open champion who has now won 16 consecutive matches at Flushing Meadows, ultimately took the incident in stride. Smiling at her press conference, she noted that the wind could have carried the smell from someone in the crowd or brought it in from outside, and said she hoped spectators would be more considerate in the future.

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