The situation arose during the duel between the Spaniard Rebeka Masarova and the Greek Maria Sakkari, for the first round of the competition, on court 17. It is not the first time that complaints of this type have been heard in the American Grand Slam.
The US Open is one of the most important annual sporting events for Americans, and a very important step on the tennis calendar, as it is the last Grand Slam of the year. With this seriousness, they came to New York to face Rebeka Masarova (71st) and Maria Sakkari (8th), in a duel that was one of the big surprises of the first round of the competition, because the Spaniard triumphed over the Greek, who came as a favorite in her top ten.
However, During the meeting, one particular complaint went around the world. With the Athenian leading 4-1 in the first round, she complained to the chair umpire: “That smell… Oh, my God. I think it’s from the park. We were training here yesterday and it was the same. The athlete denounced the smell of marijuana coming from Corona Park, located near Court 17 of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the tournament is taking place. However, Sakkari shrugged, got up from his chair and continued to compete.
This incident apparently knocked her out, as she then went down a double 6-4. During the press conference, she was consulted about it and she did not apologize: “Behind there is a park, people can do what they want. It wasn’t the smell that affected the marker. It was just a comment because it smelled very strong (…) Sometimes it smells of food, sometimes it smells of cigarettes, sometimes it smells of marijuana, it’s something we can’t control because we we are in an open space” .
Likewise, the winner Rebeka Masarova confirmed her rival’s claims: “In 2021 I played on this pitch with Svitolina and it already smelled bad, what happens is that it didn’t affect me in a negative way.”
There are more complaints
However, This isn’t the first time such a claim has happened at the US Open. The one who got really upset at last year’s edition was the controversial Nick Kyrgios, who did not hide his dissatisfaction with the public during a second round match against Benjamin Bonzi.
So much so that he asked the chair umpire to issue a warning. On this occasion, the Australian affirmed with everything in a press conference: “People don’t know it, but I have asthma. When I run from side to side, I have trouble breathing, and marijuana is probably not something I want to breathe between the points.”
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Source: Latercera
I am David Jack and I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years. As an experienced journalist, I specialize in covering sports news with a focus on golf. My articles have been published by some of the most respected publications in the world including The New York Times and Sports Illustrated.
