Maria Sakkari has revealed that she could smell 'weed' during her first-round match at the US Open where she suffered a shocking defeat to Rebeka Masarova.

World No. 8 Sakkari's run at the last Grand Slam of the year is already over after the Greek player lost to No. 71 Masarova in the opening round. The 28-year-old made a strong start at the tournament, acing her opponent twice in the first game before putting on a show of successful drop shots and net play to build up a 4-1 lead.

Despite this positive start, Sakkari's success did not last long as Masarova fought back to break her opponent and win the first set 6-4, before achieving the same score in the second set and winning the match 6-4, 6-4. However, the event was marked not only by Sakkari's shock defeat but also by a more bizarre incident.

When Sakkari was still leading 4-1 in the first set, she signaled to the umpire about the smell of 'weed' drifting onto the court.

"Oh my god... I think it's from the park," she said. While cannabis is a Class B drug and is illegal to possess in many countries, it is legal in the state of New York for adults aged 21 or over.

Despite complaining to the umpire, Sakkari stressed that the smell was not the cause of he surprising defeat.

"We were practising here yesterday and it was the same. It wasn't the smell that affected the scoring.

"It was just a comment because it was smelling quite a lot, but it has nothing to do with the match," she said.

Sakkari's defeat here was her third consecutive loss in the first round of a Grand Slam, having been ousted by eventual finalist Karolina Muchova at the French Open and by Marta Kostyuk at Wimbledon.

Masarova will go on to face Anna Karolína Schmiedlová in the second round of the US Open.