New York (AFP) – When it comes to marijuana-smoking tennis fans, Aryna Sabalenka has a simple request. “I was, like, Guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever. You can relax as much as you can, but please, do not do it around the tennis courts,” Sabalenka said Friday after she was troubled by the smell of pot wafting over Louis Armstrong Stadium in her US Open third-round win.
“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best,” said Sabalenka, who at one point complained to the umpire about the powerful smell, wondering if the official could spot the offenders. The two-time defending champ also halted her service motion at times during a straight-set win over Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan. Was it the sun? “No, I’m used to the sun, so that wasn’t the problem,” she said.
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Questions about Sabalenka’s pot plea to the umpire dominated a post-match press conference, where the Belarussian was asked at one point, “How much of a high are you on here compared to the other majors?” The world number one, who will face American Taylor Townsend in the fourth round, conceded that she has smelled weed previously in New York, but never so strong.
Sabalenka’s comments to the umpire seemed to incriminate the crowd at the Louis Armstrong Stadium. But she also postulated that the wind may have played a role. Several players have mentioned smelling marijuana smoke on outside courts, most assuming it’s drifting in from nearby parks. “I don’t know if it was, like, coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium,” Sabalenka said.
A philosophical Jessica Pegula said it was all part and parcel of the chaotic atmosphere that defines the US Open. “Obviously the smoking weed, you probably just shouldn’t do that. I feel like that should be a known thing,” she said. “It could have just been some random outlying person on a break is smoking behind the stadium that no one even knows.”
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