Sabalenka for her match at the US Open: “Someone is smoking marijuana, the smell is very strong”

The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka He has double duty at the US Open. He defends the crown, which is his main objective, since the other issue, maintaining number one in the world ranking, depends more on his Kazakh rival. Elena Rybakina. She should do the math just with the trophy in her hands.

Sabalenka is on the right track, having consumed her first three rounds at great speed. He also blew up the Uzbek Kamila Rakhimova6-3 and 6-4.

The anecdote was more powerful than a game turned into a monologue. Already in the third game of the match, Aryna Sabalenka stopped him. He addressed the chair umpire, the Greek Eva Asderaki-Moorewhile he continued looking at the back of the court on the side where he was serving.

Her dialogue with the referee showed the reason for her complaint, well known in New York in general and in the tournament in particular. “Someone is smoking marijuana. Would you mind, because (the smell) is very strong?” the tennis player requested the intervention of the authority.

Because cannabis consumption is legal in the city for those over 21 years of age, which is evident on any walk through Manhattan. And also in the tournament, whose installation is in Corona Park in Flushing Meadows, where the smell is intense, penetrating the tennis courts.

Smoking inside the complex is different, since it is prohibited. And Sabalenka thought she detected someone among the public at the Louis Armstrong Stadium committing an illegality, flagrant because the trail was obvious to the athlete. Or maybe it came from outside. He did not complain further, although other colleagues had already commented publicly that the plague is often difficult to tolerate in the heat of competition.