Tennis players usually have something to complain about. Sometimes the wind blows the balls away, then the sun blinds you when you smash. Sometimes it’s the spectators who behave unfairly, often it’s the tennis court, which is either too fast, too slow or too bumpy.
Such nagging of sensitive racket swingers is well known all over the world. In New York, a lament has been added these days that has not been heard on tennis courts until now: it smells. And not just for the hot dogs, hamburgers and fries that sizzle all over the US Open facility, but for marijuana.
American oddities
Greece’s Maria Sakkari was the first to turn up her nose on Monday as she struggled desperately to make it through to the second round. Tamara Korpatsch from Hamburg thinks everything is great about New York, but not the sweet smell that gets into her nose during training and matches and takes her breath away.
Whenever possible, the German flees to breathe some fresh air. You might think that’s sensitive, but it’s more than understandable given the clouds of smoke that are drifting everywhere. In New York, not only skyscrapers are high.
It’s one of those typically American oddities: After politicians ended their decades-long fight against drugs, almost half of all US states legalized recreational marijuana – dividing the country again into smokers and cannabis users.
For example, at the US Open – as almost everywhere in the city – smoking a cigarette is forbidden under threat of a hefty fine (it is still smoked secretly, behind the third largest tennis stadium by the garbage containers). So nicotine use is sanctioned while cannabis has been legalized. The first legal shop opened in New York eight months ago, and since then it has not only been steaming out of the subway tunnels, but also next to tennis courts.
Published/Updated: Recommendations: 11 Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 3
Should something be done about smoking weed on court? And what? Maybe a kind of ban mile like for cigarette smokers, so the competitors don’t get sedated like the marijuana users. Or possibly a habituation program for sensitive players’ noses, so to speak as a taster (without inhaling!). Or you can leave everything as it is. Hand on heart: Somehow every tennis player is happy about a new excuse why it didn’t work out with the big triumph today.
