Even whereas she was rolling on the courtroom, Maria Sakkari was bothered by the odor of one thing off it.
“It was weed,” Sakkari stated.
The No. 8 seed from Greece was eradicated from the US Open within the first spherical on Monday with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Rebeka Masarova, a match she appeared in command of till she talked about the odor towards the chair umpire throughout a changeover.
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Sakkari was main 4-1 within the first set on Court 17 at that time.
“The smell, oh my gosh,” Sakkari stated. “I think it’s from the park.”
Sakkari, a semifinalist on the US Open two years in the past, stated the odor of marijuana didn’t have an effect on her whereas taking part in. She had practised on the identical courtroom Sunday and already had observed it then.
“You don’t really think about it, because all you care is just to win the match,” Sakkari stated. “I smelled it, but that was it. Like, it wasn’t something that I paid attention to.”
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Nick Kyrgios complained about smelling marijuana throughout a match final yr, saying afterwards he’s asthmatic and the odor in all probability wasn’t good for him when he was working round.
But Sakkari stated it didn’t trigger any issues whereas competing in what grew to become her third straight first-round exit in a Grand Slam event.
“Sometimes you smell food, sometimes you smell cigarettes, sometimes you smell weed,” Sakkari stated. “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.”
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com