Aryna Sabalenka Stops US Open Match Over Marijuana Smell
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What happened
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka briefly stopped her U.S. Open third-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York to tell chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that someone was smoking weed and that the smell was 'so strong.' Recreational marijuana is legal in New York, but the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a smoke-free facility that prohibits smoking and electronic cigarettes. After winning 6-3, 6-4, Sabalenka said she did not know whether the odor came from the crowd or was blown into the stadium from outside, and that people 'can smoke whatever' but should not do so around the tennis courts. The USTA said it 'can't control what takes place off the grounds' while remaining 'vigilant' about a smoke-free site and working with the NYPD and Parks Department to reduce smoking near the fence line.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 4 articles
4 of 4 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
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- How it developed
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This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Left-leaning coverage never reports that smoking is banned at the tennis center, so the stoppage reads as ordinary city odor rather than a house-rule issue. Coverage in the Guardian notes cannabis is legal in New York and can be smelled around the grounds. Right-leaning coverage in the New York Post states the National Tennis Center is a smoke-free facility. That omitted rule is what turns a smell complaint into a possible policy breach.
Right-leaning coverage also reaches for loaded language the other side avoids. A Fox News account says the Open is developing a reputation for "debauchery," while left-leaning coverage treats the pause as a brief interruption and moves on to Sabalenka's straight-sets win.
Was a spectator actually found smoking inside the stadium, or had the odor drifted in from outside?
Bottom line
The Guardian covered the stopped match without mentioning that the Open bans smoking. That ban shows up in the New York Post, so a Guardian-only reader never learns the smell may have broken venue rules.
The receipts — 5 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Smoking is not permitted at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
- The USTA said it works with the NYPD and Parks Department and believes this has helped decrease smoking near the fence line
- Sabalenka later said she did not know whether the smell came from the crowd or was blown in from outside
- Louis Armstrong Stadium sits next to Flushing Meadows Corona Park
- Katie Boulter called one US Open court the hash court because of pot smoke
The Left View
The Guardian treats the interruption as a familiar, relatively light episode in a city where cannabis is legal and odor around the grounds has become 'a common talking point.' It highlights that Sabalenka was smiling when she spoke to the umpire and later laughed while saying fans can 'do whatever,' 'smoke whatever,' and 'relax as much as you can,' so long as they keep it away from the courts, where the smell is 'a bit tricky to handle' while competing. The paper stresses her uncertainty about the source—crowd or wind from outside—and that this was simply the strongest she had smelled it in years of playing in New York.
The Right View
Right-leaning outlets frame the pause as a symptom of a venue problem that now interrupts elite play. Fox News said the U.S. Open is 'developing a reputation for debauchery' and that the stadium 'smelled more like weed,' arguing that when smoke starts 'impacting those who do not wish to take part'—namely the athletes—'maybe it's time to put it out,' and noting nearby dispensaries delivering cannabis to fans. The New York Post billed a 'stunning' call-out of a fan at a strictly smoke-free facility. Breitbart placed the incident in a pattern of player complaints, including Katie Boulter dubbing a court the 'hash court,' and cited the USTA's concession that it cannot control activity off the grounds.
Our Take (balanced)
The left's strongest argument is that drifting cannabis odor is an expected, often off-site feature of legal New York use, not a scandal: Sabalenka laughed it off, said fans can smoke whatever they want away from the courts, and could not tell whether the smell even originated in the stadium. The right's strongest argument is that a smoke-free championship venue should not leave athletes competing through an irritant strong enough to stop play, a complaint other players have also raised and that Fox News tied to fans obtaining cannabis around the event. The central unresolved tension is whether open-air cannabis smell at the U.S. Open is an unavoidable ambient cost of urban legalization or a breakdown of a facility's smoke-free promise to competitors.
4 sources
- ‘Someone is smoking weed’: Sabalenka halts US Open match due to cannabis smell
- Aryna Sabalenka calls out fan for smoking weed mid-match in stunning US Open moment
- Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka stops US Open match because of overwhelming marijuana stench
- WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka Stops U.S. Open Match to Complain About Smell of Weed
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