The U.S. Open is hardcourt, but it was the grass bothering Maria Sakkari.
The eighth-seeded Greek complained about the strong smell of pot during her 6-4, 6-4 first-round upset loss to Rebeka Masarova.
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“It was weed,” Sakkari said. “The smell, oh my gosh. I think it’s from the park.”
Sakkari was rolling along in seeming command of the match, until the stench wafting into Court 17 prompted her to complain to the chair umpire.
She was up 4-1 in the first set before the changeover that changed the match.
“It wasn’t the smell that affected the score in any way. It was just a comment because I didn’t expect to smell it. But it has nothing to do with the match,” Sakkari said.
“You don’t really think about it, because all you care is to win the match. I smelled it, but that was it. It was not something I paid attention of.”
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Nick Kyrgios had griped about the smell of weed at last year’s U.S. Open.
But Sakkari made no excuses in her third straight first-round exit in a Slam.
“It was smelling [Sunday] when I was practising there. It’s irrelevant,” Sakkari shrugged. “Sometimes it smells food, sometimes it smells cigarettes, sometimes it smells weed. It’s something that we cannot control because we’re in an open space. There’s a park behind, people can do whatever they want. It’s nothing that we can control.”
– via Brian Lewis from the New York Post
WORLD NO. 25 UNDER FIRE OVER ‘DISRESPECTFUL’ MID-GAME COMMENTs
Alexander Bublik has come under fire for a “disrespectful” comment made during his first round clash against Dominic Thiem at the US Open.
Trailing 5-1 in the first set and making unforced error after unforced error, Bublik allegedly said: “I’m f***ing sick of getting all these disabled people back in their career.”
The shocking sledge was seemingly a sly dig at Thiem’s injury woes in recent years.
Thiem went on to win the contest 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in a comfortable victory as Bublik was left to rue making 44 unforced errors and 17 double faults in total.
When told of Bublik’s comment, Thiem stated: “If he really said that, it’s disrespectful.”
As for Bublik, the loss was his third exit from the first round of a grand slam in 2023.