Aryna Sabalenka briefly interrupted her third-round US Open match against Kamila Rakhimova after reporting a strong smell of weed inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

During the third game, the top seed addressed the chair umpire and said, “Someone is smoking weed.” At the time, the 28-year-old was leading 30-0 and serving at the south end of the stadium, the second-largest court at Flushing Meadows behind Arthur Ashe.

Sabalenka then pressed the point with a request to the official, saying, “Would you mind to (tell them to deal with it) because it’s so strong?” The umpire immediately contacted officials, and US Open staff then moved into the crowd in an effort to locate the source of the smell.

Sabalenka was not alone in drawing attention to the atmosphere around the grounds this week. Adrian Mannarino also spoke out after what he viewed as poor crowd etiquette at Flushing Meadows, where there has also been a rise in paid influencers attending the event.

After his second-round loss to Alexander Bublik, the 38-year-old Frenchman said, “Now people are allowed to move around in the crowd during points. Before, they were not allowed in the court except during changeovers. Now they come in whenever they feel like it; they move around and talk.

“The tournament puts up with it, and I don’t know if it’s the best thing for tennis in general. There’s a smell of marijuana on the court, noise everywhere; the truth is it’s turning into a bit of a zoo. The playing conditions are really peculiar.”

While smoking weed is forbidden inside the tournament grounds, the issue has been dismissed by some former players. Before Sabalenka’s complaint, the Nothing Major podcast team of John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Steve Johnson described it as a “non-issue”.

Isner said, “Players [are] complaining about the aroma of cannabis around the grounds? Especially on court. You walk around New York City, you smell it everywhere. But players have been complaining about it. Mannarino complained about it.

“Because now people are allowed to move around in the stands during the points. I like that. What do you all think about the weed smell that these players are dealing with on the court? Non-issue?”

Querrey also rejected the criticism and urged detractors to stop complaining. The former world No 11 said, “It’s a non-issue. If it’s anything, it’s like way back in a practice court or something. It’s great. This tournament’s awesome. All this stuff with the influencers that are taking over. People on the internet are such idiots. Everyone’s just complaining to complain.”

The discussion over the smell at the Championships now appears set to continue.

Andre Agassi’s view of Grand Slam glory has remained blunt since he first lifted a major trophy in 1992 at age 22. Speaking during this year’s French Open, the eight-time major champion said that winning a Slam does not alter the demands that follow. In his view, the work continues, and the weight of expectation is never really lifted.

Agassi explained, “We have had a lot of one Slam wonders, that have done some[thing] incredible — I’m sure they’re thrilled they won. When I finally got over the finish line [and won my first Grand Slam], I was let in on a dirty little secret: that winning changes nothing.

“You are gonna have that pressure again if you have more expectations from yourself. So you gotta deal with it, you gotta bring it on Sunday like you did at the start of the tournament.”

Linda Noskova has found that same message reflected in her own career since winning her maiden major at this year’s Wimbledon. The 21-year-old has since admitted to difficulties with motivation and results. Before the US Open, the Czech player said, “Once you feel like you have kind of achieved the dream that you have always been thinking about and dreaming about, it’s very tough to switch and to act like it never happened basically and go for the same thing all over again.

“The motivation is not 100% as it was right before the tournament.”

Sam Querrey has also challenged the idea that a major title automatically brings freedom. After watching French Open champion Alexander Zverev battle through two five-set matches in his first two US Open rounds, the former world No 11 said the myth does not hold up.

He said on Nothing Major, “The top players get through these top rounds pretty easily. He [Zverev] is struggling right now, for whatever reason. I think there’s a whole myth that when you win a major it relaxes you and frees you up.

“That is so not the case. It’s not like all of a sudden Zverev won Roland Garros; he doesn’t get nervous or anything. That’s not just for him; that’s for anyone.”

Zverev looked more at ease at Wimbledon, where he lost a close four-set match to Jannik Sinner. At Flushing Meadows, however, he now faces 25th seed Alejandro Tabilo on Saturday after two matches that went deep into the night. To win his first US Open, he may need a far cleaner route through the tournament.

Alexander Zverev’s 2026 US Open has already become a test of stamina as much as skill, with the world No. 2 again dragged into a long night at Flushing Meadows. His second-round match against Quentin Halys finished at 02:15 on Friday morning in New York after four hours and 33 minutes, extending an opening stretch that has already swallowed more than nine hours on court.

The top seed had begun the tournament with an even longer battle, spending four hours and 53 minutes to defeat Lorenzo Sonego in five sets in the first round on Tuesday. Two matches in, Zverev has now completed two five-setters and logged nine hours and 26 minutes of match time, a figure that places him in a unique spot in Grand Slam history. He has become the first top seed in the Open Era to play two five-setters in the opening two rounds of a Grand Slam.

Zverev’s win over Halys came by 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, but the German was frank about how he saw his level. “The performance was quite s***, to be honest, but I won, and that’s the most important thing,” the top seed said. “I’ve been here for another four and a half hours, 02:15am again, but that is what I go to the gym for, that’s what I go to the track for, that’s what I train for, to be able to come out on top in these difficult moments.

“You know, when you’re not playing your best, when you’re not hitting winners left and right, just getting through these kind of matches.

“To be honest, I hope at some point I will start to play better, but for now I am happy to be in the third round.”

The draw now looks more manageable. Zverev will next meet 25th seed Alejandro Tabilo, while 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti has already fallen to wildcard Dane Sweeny in the second round. With no other top-20 player standing in his way until at least the last eight, the path has opened further after early exits for third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, sixth seed Alex de Minaur and 12th seed Rafael Jodar.

If Zverev continues, he is projected to face 14th-seeded Learner Tien or 17th seed Jakub Mensik in the quarter-final, then possibly fifth seed Flavio Cobolli or ninth seed Taylor Fritz in the semi-final. The bottom half of the draw still includes second seed Carlos Alcaraz, seventh seed Daniil Medvedev, eighth seed Ben Shelton and 11th seed Frances Tiafoe.