Music, cheering fans, alcoholic beverages, fried foods and the smell of marijuana are all culprits in distraction at this year’s U.S. Open.

The U.S. Open has already garnered a boisterous reputation when compared to other tennis championships. At Wimbledon, for example, courts are quiet and calm; silence is not only welcomed but expected. Alcohol is not allowed. But the U.S. Open, held at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, is known for its chaotic nature of sorts. The championship is peppered with an explosion to the senses. 

New York, which legalized recreational cannabis in 2021, has been criticized for the permeating smell of marijuana, particularly in the city. In NYC, cannabis can be smoked in spaces where smoking tobacco is also permitted. Many other places do not allow that. In Arizona, for example, smoking cannabis in public is prohibited, yielding a $300 fine for a first offense.  

But complaints about marijuana at the U.S. Open have long been prevalent. Champions like Nick Kyrgios, Maria Sakkari, and Alexander Zverev have lamented over the distracting nature of cannabis over recent years. In 2023, the smell of cannabis was so pervasive at Flushing Meadows that Danish media began calling Stadium 17, the fourth-largest court in the park, “hash-banen,” or “hash court.”

This year, Casper Ruud, a former U.S. Open finalist, expressed a similar sentiment to reporters. 

“The smell of cannabis is everywhere, even here where the tournament is being played, Ruud said.

“But we have to accept it. I think it’s annoying to be on the court while someone smokes a joint. It’s no fun for us players to be tired and have to inhale the smell of hashish at the same time. We can’t do anything about it unless the law changes, but I doubt that will happen.”

Because the U.S. Open is held in New York City, it’s unsurprising that the frenetic nature of the city finds its way into the U.S. Open. But it does speak to the difficulties of containing marijuana’s pervasive smell, in a larger city. While legal, not everyone wants to be bombarded with the presence of marijuana. Regardless, it seems that tennis players and New York residents know that the smell isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.   

This article appears in Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2025.