Aryna Sabalenka Advances Amid Cannabis Distraction at US Open

Aryna Sabalenka has dealt with pressure, injury niggles and the weight of a No 1 ranking. On Saturday in New York, she added a new opponent to the list: the smell of cannabis drifting across Louis Armstrong Stadium.

It didn’t knock her off course.

The two-time defending US Open champion eased into the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kamilla Rakhimova, a straight-sets scoreline that only partly captured the edge of the contest. Sabalenka’s serve did the heavy lifting – 10 aces, no break points faced – and her game finally began to resemble the ruthless version that tore through the tour in March.

But the match will be remembered first for what happened at 3-0 in the opening set.

‘Someone is smoking weed’

With the early break in hand and the crowd settling in, Sabalenka walked towards chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore, smiling but clearly distracted.

“Someone is smoking weed, do you mind … because it’s so strong,” she said, gesturing towards the stands.

New York’s relationship with cannabis is no secret. It hangs in the air around the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center just as it does across the city, and in recent years it has become a recurring subplot at the US Open. Sabalenka has played here often enough to know the usual background haze. This, she said later, was different.

“That strong, yeah,” she explained afterwards. “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.”

She recounted the moment with a laugh, but the message was pointed.

“I was, like, Guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please, do not do it around the tennis courts. It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best.”

The interruption lasted only seconds. The focus returned just as quickly.

Serving statement, ranking on the line

Once the air – if not entirely cleared – was at least tolerated, Sabalenka went back to work. The numbers told the story of a player tightening the screws on her game.

Ten aces. Zero break points faced. First-strike tennis that left Rakhimova reacting rather than dictating.

She has not dropped a set en route to the second week and, crucially, she looks like a player rediscovering rhythm at a tournament that has defined her career. The context around this run matters: Sabalenka arrived in New York in some of her most fragile form in years, without a final since her back-to-back triumphs at Indian Wells and Miami in March.

Now the stakes sharpen. Sabalenka’s 97-week grip on the No 1 ranking will end unless she lifts a third consecutive US Open trophy and Elena Rybakina, the world No 2, falls before the semi-finals. Every match is now a ranking calculation as well as a title defence.

On court, she has answered the questions. Off court, the strain has surfaced.

‘You guys are, like, a joke’

If the cannabis comment showed Sabalenka’s lighter side, her press conference after the second round revealed a very different mood.

Following a dominant win over Polina Iatcenko, a reporter framed her pre-tournament days in New York as “parties and fun”. It landed badly. This was the second time during the event that media had referred to her off-court obligations in that way, and Sabalenka snapped.

“You guys are, like, a joke,” she fired back. “‘Parties, fun …’ like, why would you even say that? Why would you even think about that? What kind of question is that? Just because I posted, like, some activities with brands, and you think that I’ve been partying, not training?”

The exchange dragged on, tense and uncomfortable, Sabalenka finally cutting it off with a blunt instruction: “Think before you say stuff.”

It was a glimpse of a champion feeling the heat from all angles – form, ranking, expectations, narrative – and refusing to let anyone else define how seriously she takes her work.

Townsend awaits, crowd behind her

The next test will be very different. In the fourth round Sabalenka meets Taylor Townsend, the American left-hander who has turned New York into her stage over the past two seasons.

Townsend backed up last year’s run to the last 16 by returning there again, this time with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 win over 15th seed Diana Shnaider. She brings variety, touch, and a home crowd that roars with every swing.

Sabalenka will walk into that atmosphere with her ranking at stake and the weight of history chasing a three-peat. Townsend will walk in with nothing to lose and an arena desperate to see an upset.

If the smell of cannabis was distracting, the noise on Monday will be deafening.

Medvedev and Alcaraz move in step

On the men’s side, the night carried a familiar feel: Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz moving through the draw with the calm of players who know this court, this city, and this stage.

Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, delivered a clean, controlled performance to beat 29th seed Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. No drama, no fuss, just the sort of metronomic baseline pressure that has long made him one of the most awkward opponents in the sport.

Alcaraz, defending champion and returning from a four-and-a-half month layoff with a right wrist injury, went a step further. He dispatched Wu Yibing 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, a scoreline that suggested a cruise but hid some early tension.

He had to think his way through the first two sets, hold his nerve in tight games, and then – as he so often does – raise his level exactly when it mattered. Once he found that extra gear, Wu had no answer.

“To be honest, I’m better than I thought,” Alcaraz admitted. “Physically, I thought I was going to be bad after the first match but I’m recovering really well, I’m doing great things off the court out be in a good shape and right now I think my level is good. I’ve got the rhythm of the competition. Every time I step on to the court, I give it my all.”

Next up is 20th seed Tommy Paul, who clawed his way past 15th seed Alexander Bublik 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-3. An American opponent, a packed stadium, a champion still testing the limits of his body – the kind of match the US Open lives for.

Sabalenka, Medvedev, Alcaraz: three champions, three very different routes into the second week. The margins will only shrink from here.