US Open Roundup: Eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari complains about ‘weed’ smoke wafting in from the crowd in upset loss as No. 4 seed Holger Rune is stunned by Spain’s  Carballes Baena

Long known for its rowdy spectators and the noisier LaGuardia Airport, the US Open now offers tennis stars a new distraction: the smell of marijuana.

Spaniard Rebeka Masarova defeated eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-4, 6-4, with the Greek complaining afterwards that she was bothered by the smell of marijuana during her loss.

“The smell, oh my god,” the Greek Sakkari said to the chair umpire in the first set. “It was weed.”

Recreational weed has been legal in New York State since 2022, but the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is a smoke-free facility, so those who smoked risked being turned away. USTA spokesmen did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for more information.

Sakkari’s second-hand smoke wasn’t the only inconvenience on day one in Queens, where No. 4 seed Holger Rune became the tournament’s first major casualty.

Spaniard Rebeka Masarova (right) defeated eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari (left) 6-4, 6-4

Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena, in 63rd place, defeated Rune 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday for his first ever victory over a top-10 player. The 20-year-old Dane reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and Wimbledon, breaking into the top five.

Among the women, number 1 defending champion Iga Swiatek took just 58 minutes to defeat Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-0, 6-1.

Tenth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe, a 25-year-old from Maryland who reached the semifinals at last year’s US Open, had little trouble in a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over wild card compatriot Learner Tien.

Dominic Thiem, the 2020 champion who is unseeded this year, beat 25th seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Thiem, an Austrian who had lost his previous seven Grand Slam matches at the 2021 Australian Open, now faces American Ben Shelton, who beat Argentina’s Pedro Cachin in four sets.

Number 4 seed Holger Rune became the first major victim of the tournament on Sunday in Queens

There are still matches to follow with Coco Gauff in the women’s and Novak Djokovic in the men’s.

Gauff, a 19-year-old from Florida, faces Laura Siegemund from Germany, who won the women’s doubles title three years ago in New York. Gauff placed second at the French Open in singles – losing to Swiatek – and in doubles in 2022.

At the end of the main stadium, 23-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic will face France’s Alexandre Muller, who is making his US Open debut. It marks a return to the event for Djokovic, who missed it last year because, as a foreigner who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, he was unable to travel to the United States. That rule has been removed.

The first round will be played on Monday and Tuesday. The tournament lasts two weeks and will conclude with the women’s singles final on September 9 and the men’s singles final on September 10.