Aryna Sabalenka, the world No.1 female tennis player, lost patience and complained to the referee about a strong marijuana smell, asking for help to deal with those smoking as the odor drifted into the court.
On 5 Sep 2026 GMT+7, Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian world No.1 female tennis player, abruptly stopped her match against Kamilla Rakhimova from Uzbekistan. She approached the referee to report a strong marijuana smell affecting her and asked for assistance to handle the smokers, as the odor was disturbing her during the competition.
This incident occurred during the third round of the 2026 Grand Slam US Open at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA. At that moment, Sabalenka was serving in the third game of the first set (she eventually won the match 2-0 sets, 6-3, 6-4) but stopped play suddenly because she could not tolerate the strong marijuana smell that annoyed her.
Sabalenka told the referee that someone was smoking marijuana and asked if they could deal with the smell because it was very strong. She said people could smoke or relax however they wanted but pleaded that they should not do so at the tennis court, as it is difficult to cope with the odor while trying to compete at their best.
Notably, Sabalenka is not the first tennis player to complain about this issue. Previously, British player Katie Boulter also said the smell disturbed her concentration, and players like Maria Sakkari and Alexander Zverev had made similar complaints in 2023.