As the US Open begins at Flushing Meadows this year, Katie Boulter has emerged in the long list of players to flag one of the strangest recurring headaches at the tournament – the smell of mar***ana wafting around its outdoor courts. The British No. 1, preparing to open her campaign against American wildcard Carol Young Suh Lee, said the smell is particularly noticeable away from the main stadiums.

“We smell it a lot on the practice courts. I’m not a fan of it,” Boulter said. “I know many players have complained about certain courts. I had played on one of them and I smelled it during my match. It’s not something I want to smell in the middle of my match. I try to stay focused, and obviously it takes you out of the match for a moment, and it’s not something you want. We don’t need distractions.” 

She wasn’t alone in noticing it this year either. Fellow Brits Fran Jones and Harriet Dart, who both came through qualifying on Friday, said the smell had already made itself known, with Jones joking that a stronger whiff might actually explain her good form on court, telling reporters she’d had a chuckle to herself mid-point before refocusing. Dart, more resigned, put it simply: “It’s New York.”

The tournament grounds are right in the middle of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and although it is illegal to smoke anywhere inside the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there is no fence high enough to block the smell from leaking over the park itself. 

In 2021, New York legalized recreational mar***ana for adults 21 and older, and the state’s regulations are pretty much the same as those for smoking cigarettes, which are mostly allowed pretty much anywhere. It is even New York’s fourth largest park, covering around 897 acres, and the tennis center takes only 5% of that land. Therefore, it is impossible to enforce a no-smoking law in such a large space to be able to prevent the smell coming into the stadiums.

The infamous court 17

One particular court has been infamous for the smell since its inception. Court 17 opened in 2011, at the same time as the park itself. The complaints reached a high point in 2023, when eighth seed Maria Sakkari raised a problem mid-match during a first-round match, which she eventually lost. This prompted Alexander Zverev, who won his opening match on the same court, to drop an iconic line on the issue. 

“Court 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg’s living room,” Zverev said. “Oh my God, it’s everywhere. The whole court smells like w**d.” 

The USTA even conducted its own investigation, examining video footage of the security cameras and interviewing officials, and determined that no spectator was actually smoking in the stands, but that the park itself was the problem. 

These complaints have been recurring every year. Earlier in 2022, Nick Kyrgios raised an issue that the smoke was interfering with his asthma severely. He was even visibly struggling to breathe mid-match between points, prompting the umpire to ask nearby fans to stop. 

Every time the issue has resurfaced, USTA has reiterated the same statement that the activity is beyond their control but has remained constant that they will stay “vigilant” on the complaints received on site. 

Unless the geographical location is changed from Flushing Meadows, it’s quite difficult to stop the smell coming into the courts, especially on the outdoor courts. Players like Boulter have to adjust and ignore the smell and continue their US Open campaign.