The world No. 1 was facing Kamilla Rakhimova when she stopped during the match to alert the umpire about a strong smell of weed coming from somewhere around the stadium.
“Someone is smoking weed. Do you mind? Because it’s so strong,” Sabalenka told the umpire.
Sabalenka interrupted by strong smell of weed
Sabalenka was leading 3-0 in the opening set when she suddenly stopped and turned to chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore. Pointing towards the stands, she explained that the smell of weed was so strong that it had become difficult to ignore.
The umpire spoke to an official on her radio and was seen making a smoking gesture towards the area behind her, while US Open staff headed into the crowd to try to locate the source of the smell. However, it remained unclear exactly where it was coming from.
Play eventually resumed, with Sabalenka putting the strange distraction behind her as she went on to beat Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 in just one hour and 29 minutes.
Sabalenka explains what happened
Speaking to reporters after the match, Sabalenka was asked several questions about the strong smell and explained that the windy conditions made it difficult to work out where it was coming from.
“Because it was a bit windy, I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blew it into the stadium.”
She also admitted that the smell was particularly strong this time and hoped people would be more aware of the distraction it can cause during matches.
“I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”
But Sabalenka clearly wasn’t taking the whole situation too seriously. When the questions about marijuana kept coming, she joked with reporters:
“More about the weed? Come on, guys. You were the one who was smoking, maybe?”
And when another reporter asked her about the “high” she gets playing at the US Open compared to other tournaments, Sabalenka laughed:
“High? The level? Now I can only hear the weed stuff. If they’re gonna keep smoking, I might get high.”
Watch Sabalenka’s full press conference:
The two-time defending champion and world No. 1 has cruised into the second week in New York and will face Taylor Townsend in the fourth round on Sunday.
Read about Sabalenka’s chances of making another deep run in our US Open tournament preview.