Sabalenka Beats Rakhimova After Cannabis Pause

Aryna Sabalenka beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the US Open last 16 on Friday, firing 29 winners and 10 aces without facing a break point, per AFP. The world No. 1 still had to pause the match when she smelled cannabis drifting onto Louis Armstrong Stadium, a Flushing Meadows distraction that became the night's other headline.

The tennis part was clean. The air was not. Sabalenka complained to the chair, finished the job, and next gets American Taylor Townsend.

The cannabis stoppage

ABC reported Sabalenka halted play during her second service game, telling umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore, "Someone is smoking weed. Do you mind? Because it's so strong," while she was serving 30-0. After the match she smiled through the presser and still drew a line: "I was like, 'Guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please not do it around the tennis courts.'" AFP quoted her calling it "a bit tricky to handle that smell while you're trying to compete at your best."

Recreational cannabis is legal for adults over 21 in New York, but smoking is not permitted inside the grounds. ABC noted the odor often drifts in from surrounding Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Sabalenka said she had smelled it at the tournament before, never this strongly during a match, and hoped people would be "a bit more aware." When questions kept circling back, she laughed and asked the room to move on.

Townsend next, No. 1 on the line

Sabalenka must repeat as champion to have a chance of remaining No. 1, per AFP. Round of 16 is 96th-ranked Townsend, who beat 15th-seeded Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3. Rakhimova, ranked 92nd, pushed in a second-set slugfest even if the break-point ledger stayed empty for Sabalenka.

The cannabis pause will get the viral clips, but the tennis ledger still matters more for September. Twenty-nine winners and 10 aces with zero break points faced is a defending champion's night even when the wind carries something else into Armstrong. Townsend is a different lefty problem in the next round, and Sabalenka already knows New York can invent distractions between points on big nights.

For more women's board action already on Smacktok, see Sabalenka's earlier Iatcenko win and Jessica Pegula advancing. Friday's version mixed a straight-sets stamp with a weed timeout New York will remember longer than the scoreline.