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By Brian Lewis
The U.S. Open is hardcourt, but it was the grass bothering Maria Sakkari.
The No. 8-seeded Greek complained about the strong smell of pot during her 6-4, 6-4 first-round upset loss to Rebeka Masarova.
“It was weed,” Sakkari said. “The smell, oh my gosh. I think it’s from the park.”
Maria Sakkari lost on Monday at the U.S. Open.
Sakkari was rolling along in seeming command of the match, until the stench wafting into Court 17 prompted her to complain to the chair umpire.
She was up 4-1 in the first set before the changeover that changed the match.
“It wasn’t the smell that affected the score in any way. It was just a comment because I didn’t expect to smell it. But it has nothing to do with the match,” Sakkari said. “You don’t really think about it, because all you care is to win the match. I smelled it, but that was it. It was not something I paid attention of.”
Maria Sakkari, the No. 8 seed, fell in straight sets to Rebeka Masarova on Monday at the U.S.
Nick Kyrgios had griped about the smell of weed at last year’s U.S. Open.
But Sakkari made no excuses in her third straight first-round exit in a Slam.
“It was smelling [Sunday] when I was practicing there. It’s irrelevant,” Sakkari shrugged.
Maria Sakkari complained about smelling marijuana during her first-round loss to Rebeka Masarova.
“Sometimes it smells food, sometimes it smells cigarettes, sometimes it smells weed. It’s something that we cannot control because we’re in an open space. There’s a park behind, people can do whatever they want. It’s nothing that we can control.”
