NEW YORK CITY: Aryna Sabalenka was distracted by the smell of cannabis wafting through Louis Armstrong Stadium midway through the opening set of her US Open third-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova. The world No. 1 turned to chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore to raise the issue.“Someone is smoking weed,” she said, glancing briefly towards her box before walking up to the umpire. “Do you mind? Because it’s so strong there.”Asderaki-Moore spoke to an official on her radio, making a smoking gesture before play resumed.Sabalenka sent down 10 aces in her 6-3, 6-4 win over the Uzbek.“You can do whatever, smoke whatever, but please, not do it around the tennis courts,” the 28-year-old Belarusian pleaded. “It’s a bit tricky that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best.”While Sabalenka is not the first player to complain about the smell of marijuana around Flushing Meadows, the sprawling tennis complex skirted by green spaces, this is the first time she has brought it up in a match.The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a smoke-free facility, prohibiting smoking, vaping and the use of electronic cigarettes inside the tournament grounds.“It was a bit windy today. I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from outside and the wind was blowing it into the stadium,” she said.Last year, Casper Ruud, the 2022 US Open finalist, spoke about it with Norwegian media.“For me, this is the worst thing about New York,” he said. “The smell is everywhere, even here on the courts. We have to accept it, but it’s not my favourite smell.”In the fourth round on Sunday, Sabalenka will face home hope Taylor Townsend, who knocked out 15th seed Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3.The Williams sisters, Venus, 46, and Serena, 44, playing their first US Open match since 2022 at the Grand Slam tournament they have won twice, lit up Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night, rallying from a set down against Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint in the first round of the women’s doubles.But just when they appeared to have seized control, shifting gears from 1-4 in the decider, the Williams let it slip. They blew a 5-0 lead in the match tiebreak, winning just two of the last 12 points, falling 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7) in a shade over three-hours in the first night match.
Alcaraz changes gear
As much as defending champion Carlos Alcaraz’s play has been dissected since his return from a four-month injury-enforced break, so too has his playing gear. The Spaniard, who, like his illustrious compatriot Rafael Nadal, has made the cut-off singlet something of a signature style, sparked a sartorial controversy this time with its generous armhole setting the internet abuzz.Alcaraz, who was kitted out in the ombre tank in his first two rounds, fading from chocolate to white, could do little as the fabric caught the wind as he breezed around the rectangle. He addressed the situation in his third-round match against China’s Yibing Wu, wearing a fitted white vest underneath his game shirt.The Spaniard powered to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win to set up a fourth-round meeting with American Tommy Paul.“I think I saw my nipple too much lately. I felt like I could hide it for at least one match,” Alcaraz said in his post-match interaction, adding, “I feel really comfortable with another shirt (underneath). So I think I’m gonna stay like that.”Alcaraz noted that the vest was his decision and not that of his sponsor, Nike.“I wouldn’t mind if I had to play again like that, but if we could do something about it, it was good. Maybe the second round was a little bit distracting for me, but not that much,” he said.
