US Open overtaken by weed on Court 17! Alexander Zverev says it ‘definitely smells like Snoop Dogg’s living room’

The unofficial scent of New York City—well, one of them, anyway—has made its way into the US Open.

A pungent marijuana smell hovered over us Court 17, where eighth seed Maria Sakkari complained of an overpowering smell of pot during her first-round loss, has become notorious among players in recent years for its distinctive, unmistakable smell.

“Course 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg’s living room,” said Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s twelfth-seeded man who won his opening match on Tuesday. ‘Oh my God, it’s everywhere. The whole court smells of weed.’

Provoked by stories in the aftermath of Sakkari’s match Monday showing that the US Open bleachers were the sporting equivalent of a Phish concert, the United States Tennis Association conducted its own investigation of sorts to root out the source of the odor. .

Spokesperson Chris Widmaier said the USTA has questioned officials and reviewed videos from the afternoon game and found “no evidence” that anyone was smoking weed in the stands of Court 17, leading to speculation it could have come from Corona Park, just outside the gates of the intimate stadium. court.

Alexander Zverev (L), from Germany, defeated Australian Aleksandar Vukic on Court 17 on Tuesday

And maybe he’s not just blowing smoke. That’s what Sakkari herself suggested when she complained to the chair umpire when she was leading 4-1 in the first set: ‘The smell, oh my god. I think it’s from the park.’

After her 6-4, 6-4 loss to Rebeka Masarova, Sakkari told reporters, “Sometimes you smell food, sometimes you smell cigarettes, sometimes you smell weed. I mean it’s something we can’t control because we’re in an open space. There is a park behind it. People can do whatever they want.’

Flushing Meadows security officer Ricardo Rojas, who worked the gate outside Court 17 on Monday, said he had taken a break in the park around the time of Sakkari’s match and that “there was definitely a weed smell.”

But he noted that while he has a strict no-smoking policy at the USTA’s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the park is “outside my jurisdiction.”

It is legal in New York for adults 21 and older to possess up to three ounces of cannabis and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis for personal use, and may smoke or vape cannabis anywhere tobacco smoking is permitted.

Other players in recent years have complained about the weed smells emanating from Court 17, a 2,500-seat arena that opened in 2011 in the far southwest corner of the complex with little buffer to the park.

Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who won her match on Court 17 with ease on Tuesday, told a similar story: ‘I actually smelled it today. You smell it a lot. I think it’s just Court 17. That Court is so far away, it’s almost in the park. I think it’s from the park.’

Sakkari, a semifinalist at the US Open two years ago, said the smell had no effect on her while playing. Still, some fans at Flushing Meadows had little patience with the idea of ​​a top player being mentally shaken by the smell of weed.