Tennis players complain as smell of cannabis distracts at US Open

Britain’s US Open hopefuls thought they had put the grass behind them when Wimbledon finished – but the smell of it is all around Flushing Meadows.

Marijuana is legal for adults in New York and while smoking is not allowed on site, the aroma of weed wafts over some outside courts from the nearby Corona Park.

Last year, World No 20 Casper Ruud declared the scent as the “worst thing” about the city, with the press in his homeland of Denmark even referring to Court 17 – which is closest to the court – as hash-banen, translated to “hash court”.

British number one Katie Boulter said: “Yeah, I have experienced it. You go down to the practice courts and down in the park courts, you do smell it a lot.

“But yeah, I’m not a huge fan of it. I know a lot of players have complained on some of the specific courts.

“I’ve played on one before and I did smell it during my match. It’s something that I wouldn’t like to smell in the middle of my match.

“I’m trying to focus and then obviously, it takes you out of the moment and you really don’t want to. You don’t need distractions. So yeah, I wasn’t a huge fan of it.”

Fran Jones, the British number three, recalled: “Last year I made a joke about that, in my first round, and I said to the guy, ‘is this normal?’. Because I was on the stadium, and it’s next to the park.

“He’s like, ‘yeah”. and I was like, ‘well, no wonder I’m playing pretty well’.

“This year I’ll be like ‘no, lock in, lock in!”

Harriet Dart, who came through qualifying along with Jones, added: “I mean it’s New York. It’s New York. I feel like everywhere you walk around, it’s everywhere, no? It is what it is. Same for everyone.”

The USTA said in a statement: “While we can’t control what takes place off the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, we continue to be vigilant as we maintain this.”