- 'Sabalenka's US Open 2026' in US Open
- Arya Sabalenka was furious
- Complained to the umpire
A match was played between Aryana Sabalenka and Kamila Rakhimova to reach the fourth round of US Open 2026 (US Open). Drama erupted in the third round of the US Open at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York when world number one Sabalenka abruptly stopped the match. Sabalenka was serving and the score was 30-0. She was serving from the south end of the court. She then pointed at the chair umpire and complained about the strong smell coming from the stands. She said someone in the audience was smoking marijuana.
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Someone is smoking weed…
Sabalenka suddenly stopped while serving in the third game of her match against Uzbekistan's Kamila Rakhimova at Louis Armstrong Stadium. After tossing the ball up twice in a row, she gave it up because of the strong smell of marijuana in the air. Sabalenka immediately went to the umpires to complain. World number one Sabalenka directly told the umpires, 'Someone is smoking weed.' Sabalenka did not stop there. She urged the umpires to take action, explaining that the smell was so strong that it was difficult to ignore during the match. She said, 'Can you go over there and tell them to stop, because the smell is so strong?
The umpire immediately called the US Open staff
After Sabalenka's complaint, the chair umpire took the matter seriously. US Open crews were immediately dispatched to the stands. The staff tried to find out where exactly the smell of marijuana was coming from and who was responsible for it. Throughout this process, the match was affected for some time. This unusual event attracted the attention of Sabalenka and her opponent Rakhimova, as well as the spectators present on the court. Disruption by spectators at tennis matches is nothing new, but it was certainly an unusual occurrence for a player to directly complain of the smell of marijuana in the middle of a match. Sabalenka defeated Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 in this match. On the other hand, American Jessica Pegula entered the second week of her home Grand Slam tournament for the fifth year in a row.
The issue of the smell of ganja was also raised earlier
Sabalenka is not the first player to express displeasure at the smell of marijuana wafting from spectators during this year's US Open. Veteran French tennis player Adrien Mannarino also expressed displeasure over a similar situation at Flushing Meadows. He had questioned the behavior of the spectators and the atmosphere of the matches. Despite this incident, Sabalenka remained focused on her campaign. She is the defending US Open champion and entered the tournament as the world number one. Hence, a huge responsibility rests on her to retain her title.
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