“Someone is smoking weed, do you mind..." - Aryna Sabalenka put off by strong cannabis scent swirling around Flushing Meadows

Aryna Sabalenka had little issue in defeating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last-16 of the US Open for the sixth consecutive time, but what dd bug her was the strong scent of cannabis in the air.

This has been a regular theme in this tournament with weed being smelled around the grounds and even the city. It is a unique one for many of the players who are obvious not fond of it as they look to go through the rounds in the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year.

Sabalenka was most certainly trying to do that. The two-time reigning US Open champion was not going to be put off by a little bit of cannabis, but she was still going to go to the umpire and complain about it.

The Belarusian did somewhat see the funny side to it, wandering over with a smirk on her face to the umpire chair as Eva Asderaki-Moore was all ears. “Someone is smoking weed, do you mind … because it’s so strong,” Sabalenka commented before heading back to the baseline.

Sabalenka was 2-0 up at this point and was enroute to another hold to extend her lead even further in the very early stages of the match. Rakhimova kept tabs with her throughout, especially in the second set in a match dominated by holds, but the World No.1 converted her chances successfully and advances despite the lingering smell of cannabis in the air.

She was ready to touch on it more in her press conference, adamant that the smell was stronger than other years while not being certain where the origin came from. “That strong, yeah. Also, because it was a bit windy. 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. I don’t know. I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”

The early rounds for Sabalenka have been a breeze. No sets dropped against Camila Osorio, Polina Iatcenko or Rakhimova as she continues to go on her merry way through the rounds in a tournament that she adors.

She has made the final in the last three editions, winning in 2024 and 2025, with the pressure on her to repeat those results once more. There is a lot at stake in this tournament, and much of it is down to Sabalenka's recent form opening the door for rivals to challenge.

In her last six tournaments at Grand Slam and Masters 1000 level, she has failed to reach the semi-final in any of them with just a brace of quarter-finals in Madrid and Paris to show for it. This throws away the previous and remarkable consistency from Sabalenka who was normally so efficient at the highest level, but a regular stream of third and fourth round defeats make for a worrying sign.

She will look to avoid this against Taylor Townsend in the last-16. Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova or Marta Kostyuk could be her task in the quarter-final with Jessica Pegula her big rival on this side of the draw. On the other side, the likes of Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff all look strong and are flexing their muscles readying for a possible final showdown against the four-time Grand Slam champion.