Katie Boulter Faces Cannabis Distractions at the US Open
Katie Boulter is heading into the US Open with an opponent she can’t see and can’t avoid: the smell of cannabis drifting across from a New York park.
The British number one, preparing for her first-round match against American wildcard Carol Young Suh Lee, says the odour has become an unwelcome part of life at Flushing Meadows.
“You can smell it a lot on the practice courts,” said Boulter, the world number 60, as she fine-tuned her game ahead of the final major of the season. “I'm not a huge fan of it.”
A distraction you can’t block out
Cannabis is legal for adults over 21 in New York, and while smoking is not allowed inside the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the tournament sits right next to Corona Park. The breeze does the rest.
Players have been talking about it for years. The issue isn’t new. The irritation is.
“I know a lot of players have complained on some of the specific courts,” Boulter said. “I've played on one before and I did smell it during my match.
“It's something that I wouldn't like to smell in the middle of my match. I'm trying to focus and then obviously, it takes you out of the moment and you really don't want to. You don't need distractions. So yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of it.”
For a player trying to hold serve at 30-all in front of thousands, the smallest detail can matter. A gust of wind. A cough in the crowd. Or, increasingly, a cloud of smoke from beyond the fences.
A recurring problem in Queens
The smell has become a recurring subplot at the US Open.
In 2022, Australian Open doubles champion Nick Kyrgios stopped during a match to complain that a fan smoking courtside was affecting his asthma, forcing the umpire to address the crowd and ask spectators not to smoke.
Last year, Maria Sakkari raised the issue mid-match, telling the umpire about the smell during a set. She later made it clear she was not using it as an excuse for her defeat, but her comments underlined how noticeable it has become at certain courts.
The United States Tennis Association insists it is not ignoring the problem. It says it works with local police and the parks department to clamp down on smoking around the site’s perimeter.
“While we can't control what takes place off the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, we continue to be vigilant as we maintain this,” the organisation said.
The reality, though, is that the stadium complex shares a boundary with a public park in a city where cannabis is legal. The lines are clear on paper. In the air, less so.
British players adjust to New York
Boulter is not alone in noticing it. Britain’s Fran Jones and Harriet Dart, both of whom battled through qualifying on Friday, have also encountered the smell.
Jones recalled her first experience of it last year with a smile.
“Last year I made a joke about that, in my first round, and I said to the guy, ‘is this normal?’” she said. “Because I was on the stadium, and it's next to the park. He's like, ‘yeah’. And I was like: ‘Well, no wonder I'm playing pretty well.’”
The joke lands, but the message this year is different.
“This year I'll be like ‘no, lock in, lock in!’” she added, as she prepares to face Poland’s Magda Linette in the opening round.
Dart, who beat compatriot Heather Watson in qualifying to earn a main-draw meeting with American Peyton Stearns, has taken a more resigned view.
“I mean it's New York. It's New York,” she said. “I feel like everywhere you walk around, it's everywhere, no?
“It is what it is. Same for everyone.”
That last line cuts to the heart of the competitive question. If everyone smells it, is it still an issue, or just another quirk of playing in Queens?
For Boulter, chasing ranking points and momentum at a crucial stage of her season, it’s more than a curiosity. It’s an intrusion. And as the US Open begins again under the New York lights, the battle for focus may stretch well beyond the tramlines.
