Jelena Ostapenko makes stunning claim about weed smell at US Open
© Getty Images Sport – Matthew Stockman
Jelena Ostapenko claims she has smelled weed in “every match” she has played so far at this year’s US Open On Tuesday, Ostapenko came back from a set down to beat Bernarda Pera 4-6 6-3 6-3 on Court 17. Throughout the week, there have been complaints coming from players about smelling weed during matches.
“Every match I smell it. It’s not a surprise they were complaining about. Yeah, today there was a little bit crazy situation, yeah, when a fan was shouting during the serves, which he’s not supposed to do. I was leading 4-1 in the third set, and then suddenly, I served a serve and he started to shout like crazy.
Of course, the chair umpire told him to be quiet,” Ostapenko said.
Ostapenko confirms what Maria Sakkari was saying
On the opening day of the US Open, Maria Sakkari complained on the court about smelling weed. “It was weed.
The smell, oh my gosh. I think it’s from the park,” Sakkari was heard saying. Sakkari’s complaints about smelling weed went viral but the Greek tennis star didn’t want to blame that for suffering a shock loss to Rebeka Masarova in the US Open first round, “You don’t really think about it because all you care is just to win the match.
I smelled it, but that was it. Like, it wasn’t something that I paid attention to. Sometimes you smell food, sometimes you smell cigarettes, sometimes you smell weed. I mean, it’s something we cannot control because we’re in an open space.
There’s a park behind. People can do whatever they want,” Sakkari said in her press conference after the match. Since then, several players have complained about smelling weed during matches. The latest case of that has been Ostapenko, who is set to face world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the US Open round-of-16.