"This is the worst thing about New York": Casper Ruud complains about the smell of marijuana during US Open mixed doubles

Norway’s Casper Ruud has highlighted what he considers the least impressive thing about his stay in New York during the recently concluded US Open mixed doubles event. The 26-year-old featured in the recently concluded event, which was the first of its kind, with Poland’s Iga Swiatek.

Ruud and Swiatek finished the competition as the runner-up after losing in the final to the defending US Open champions pair of Italy’s Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori with a score of 6-3, 5-7, 10-6. Ruud spoke to the Norwegian media and highlighted that he did not like the smell of cannabis during his stay in New York. Ruud stated that the smell of cannabis was ‘everywhere’, including on the court.

“For me, this is the worst thing about New York,” said Ruud. “The smell is everywhere, even here on the courts. We have to accept it, but it's not my favorite smell. 'It's quite annoying to be playing, tired, and just meters away, someone is smoking marijuana. 'We can't do anything about it unless the law is reversed, but I have strong doubts that will happen.”

In 2021, the New York State Legislature allowed the use of cannabis in the state for recreational use. While the use of cannabis was prohibited at Flashing Meadows, anyone can smoke it in the state where smoking is allowed. This is not the first time a player has complained about such an issue. In 2021, Greece’s Maria Sakkari also complained to the chair umpire about something similar by claiming that it was hard for her to concentrate in the match against Rebeka Masarova because of the smell of cannabis.

Ruud, after finishing as the runner-up in the mixed doubles competition, thanked his partner, Swiatek, in a post on the social media platform Instagram. “What an incredible couple of days with amazing crowds🙌🏼 Congrats to the champs — it was such a thrill @usopen ! Big thanks to my great partner @iga.swiatek , feel free to text me again if you ever feel like playing,” he wrote.

Ruud is going through a mixed season. Overall, he has managed to win 28 out of 39 matches across different competitions. Still, despite that, he has only managed to win just one title, which was the Madrid Open, where he defeated Britain’s Jack Draper in the final with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Ruud will now turn his focus to playing in the singles category at the US Open.

Ruud is coming into the competition on the back of having some disappointing performances in the recent past, especially in the singles category, where he has only managed to win three out of the last six matches in three different competitions. His most recent outing in the singles event came at the Cincinnati Open, where he was knocked out after losing in the second round to France’s Arthur Rinderknech with a score of 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Ruud will be hoping that despite poor performances in the recent past, he will be able to turn it around and produce a much better show at the US Open compared to what he did last year where he was knocked out after losing in the fourth round to America’s Taylor Fritz with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. This year, Ruud will play his first match against Sebastian Ofner of Austria. It will be the third meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous two meetings, Ruud had a clear advantage as he came out on top on both occasions. Their most recent meeting was in the round of 16 of the Geneva Open in 2024, where Ruud emerged victorious with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. For Ofner, the positive aspect is the fact that both of those previous meetings came on a Clay court.