Greg Rusedski has urged US Open organisers to take action after several players raised concerns about the smell of weed at Flushing Meadows.

The issue surfaced when Aryna Sabalenka was forced to pause her third-round match against Kamila Rakhimova because of the cannabis smell inside Louis Armstrong Stadium. The No 1 seed told the umpire that someone was “smoking weed” and later described the situation as very “tricky” when trying to compete.

Adrian Mannarino also criticised the atmosphere, saying the US Open was becoming a “bit of a zoo” because of the marijuana smell and crowds that were not following normal tennis etiquette. Katie Boulter said the same kind of aromas were off-putting as well.

Even though recreational weed use is legal in New York, Rusedski believes it should not be part of the tournament environment. Speaking on Off Court, the former US Open finalist said, “In New York, it’s legal to smoke weed. You can have it in your possession. From my perspective, I don’t like it at a sporting event. I don’t think it puts a good image for the city.

“What does that say to kids, if you’ve got that smell and stench around? I think the US Open should be a no smoking zone, whether it’s cigarettes, whether it’s weed.

“This is an athletic competition. I don’t understand how the USTA (United States Tennis Association) can’t get together with the mayor of New York (Zohran Mamdani) and say, ‘Look, guys, we don’t want this at our venue and we don’t want this for the image of tennis’.

“I’m not sure if you’re allowed to do that at the American football games and baseball and all those other sporting events, maybe you are, but I just don’t think that sits together with sport and I can understand the player’s point of view.

“I don’t like the smell of it. I don’t like it around that environment and I think they’ve got to do something about it. I agree with Boulter. I agree with Sabalenka. It has no right, I believe, to be at the US Open, to be at majors, to be at tennis tournaments.

“It’s the wrong image. It’s the wrong message. Yes, society’s opened up in that respect. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but that’s just my view.”

Rusedski added that USTA CEO Craig Tiley will likely listen to the players and look for solutions. He also said the tournament’s image matters beyond tennis, with financial consequences if the event is seen in the wrong light.

He added, “He [Tiley] will take all these things in from the players. He will find solutions. He did a great job with the Australian Open. Because this is a global image and if we’re talking about it, other people around the world are talking about it. This is a premier event that makes hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Not only for the tennis tournament, the USTA, but also for the city of New York with hotels and everything that’s encompassed is probably maybe a billion to $2billion revenue for the city and the tournament. So they want to get this right and they want to get the right image. So I think next year, I don’t think we’ll be talking about these things.”

[The 2026 US Open is dealing with a growing credibility problem in the middle of the tournament, and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka has become the latest leading player to raise her voice on an issue that appears difficult to fix.

During her third-round match against Kamila Rakhimova, Sabalenka paused play in Louis Armstrong Stadium to complain to the umpire about the smell of weed. Her decision to stop the match underscored a concern that British No 1 Katie Boulter had already mentioned earlier in the event.

“Someone is smoking weed,” Sabalenka told the umpire. “Would you mind to (tell them to deal with it) because it’s so strong?”

She returned to the subject after the match and made her position clear in the press conference.

“Guys, you can relax any way you want and you can smoke anything you want, but please don’t do it around the tennis court.

“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you are trying to perform at your best. There is nothing else to say about weed. I’m just asking people not to smoke it around the tennis court.”

The issue has now been acknowledged by several players, leaving USTA officials with a problem that is proving awkward to solve. Yet another storyline, of their own making, has also begun to dominate the conversation.

Tournament organisers have brought in influencers to help promote the event, and their presence has quickly become one of the biggest talking points. Matches have been interrupted while social media creators film videos and promote products during points, with Naomi Osaka left unimpressed.

Coco Gauff took a more measured view, but she was still firm that tennis etiquette must be respected.

“I think it’s great to have a different demographic to the sport, and I think I have no problem with influencers,” said Gauff.

“I have met some of them and follow some of them online. Luckily, the ones I do follow online do follow the etiquette and know tennis pretty well.

“I think it’s like any venue you come to, you have to follow the etiquette towards it. I think it may be on some of the brands, too, maybe to have, like, a sign plastered or something in the suites so that they know. Because, you know, sometimes it’s their first tennis match. They don’t know. They have probably been to basketball games before.

“But I definitely think no flash photography, because that does bother [us], and I am one of the more lenient players. There is very few times you hear me complain about noise. The flash (light)… definitely no flash in the points and try not to talk too loud.

“But like with anything, any venue you go to, like if you’re being invited to a red carpet, you wouldn’t show up in jeans. I think it’s just, follow the etiquette of the sport. That’s all.”

Unless the USTA changes course and stops giving these guests tickets in seats that are worth thousands of dollars, the debate is unlikely to fade. With Instagram and TikTok overflowing with images of influencers promoting themselves and their brands, the question remains whether tennis is actually gaining new fans. For now, the tournament’s news cycle is being shaped by problems that are damaging its image.

Martina Navratilova has weighed in on Carlos Alcaraz’s frustration with the modern schedule, saying one part of the calendar is especially difficult on the leading players. Her comments came after Alcaraz, back in action at the 2026 US Open following more than four months away with a wrist injury, said the demands of the tour may force him to step away for longer periods in the future.

After his second-round victory in New York, the seven-time Grand Slam champion was blunt about the challenge of playing through the full season. “Returning took me more time than I wanted, to be honest,” he said.

He added: “Obviously I didn’t want to have this break because of an injury, but in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks.

“Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all.

“I think they are adding more important tournaments. In a way, they are forcing us to choose. You can skip one or two, you can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, Grand Slams [that you can’t skip], and we are going to play for 40 weeks if we are going to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP requires us to play.

“It’s impossible, and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players are getting tired, and if they don’t do anything about it, we are going to see it even more [injuries] in the future.”

Navratilova answered on X/Twitter by focusing on the 12-day Masters 1000 format. “These 12-day events are great for the tournament, for making $ and great for the fans, [but] they are horrible for the top players,” the 18-time major singles champion wrote.

The ATP Tour expanded Masters 1000 events in Madrid, Rome and Shanghai to 12 days in 2023, with singles draws increased to 96 players. The same format later arrived in Indian Wells, Miami and Shanghai in 2024, and in Canada and Cincinnati beginning with the 2025 editions.

Before those changes, seven of the nine Masters events were contested over one week with 56-player singles draws, while Indian Wells and Miami were 10-day tournaments.