For nearly half a century, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center has served as the home of the US Open.
This year’s edition drew a record crowd, surpassing 1.14 million attendees, who came to see stars such as Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, Serena Williams, Tommy Paul, and others in action.
Even amid the event’s success, it faced criticisms, including concerns about disruptive content creators and steep ticket prices.
Fans flagged another unforeseen issue—the odor inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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On Monday, Sept. 7, a TikTok user known as @baylorcarrots claimed the venue smelled horribly and shared a firsthand view of how other attendees reacted to the odor.
In the clip, the woman is seen seated in the stands, holding her nose, before panning the camera to fellow spectators who also covered their nostrils.
It isn’t clear which match she attended, but she tagged Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka in the caption, suggesting she may have been at one of Sabalenka’s matches.
“When a stench of human waste hangs in the air and the US Open has allegedly known about it for days, yet lets fans sit in Section 310,” she wrote, pairing the clip with the trending saxophone audio.
The saxophone cue signals that trouble could be looming or may already be underway.
A closer inspection shows that even a few guests in the row behind her were pinching their noses to ward off the odor.
The TikToker also criticized the venue in the caption, writing, “The Facilities Team and Guest Services told us they were already aware of the issue, but people were still being allowed to sit in the affected section. We paid to attend the US Open and should not have to sit for hours in an area that smells like human waste.”
She ended her tirade with the question, “How is this acceptable?” and fans weighed in on the incident in the comments under her video.
One commenter wrote, “If you can smell it, particles are actually entering your nose.”
Another added, “There’s no way I could handle that—my nose is like a hound’s. It would have made me sick.”
A different attendee who sat nearby recalled, “We were in section 308, and the odor was unbearable.”
She continued asking the TikToker, “Did you get refunded? I’ve heard nothing.”
@baylorcarrots replied, “No!! We reached out to several parties and got no response….”
A fourth observer stated, “That section was awful yesterday. My eyes were burning.”
From the creator’s video and other online responses, the odor appeared to linger in certain areas near Section 310.
Tournament organizers had not yet issued a public statement addressing the foul smell that disturbed many fans.
Interestingly, Sabalenka herself also raised an issue about a smell.
The world No. 1 paused her third-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan after catching a whiff of an unpleasant odor.
During the opening set at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Sabalenka halted play mid-rally to tell the umpire that she could smell cannabis.
“Someone is smoking weed, so do you mind … because it’s so strong,” the 28-year-old said.
The umpire then notified tournament officials, and Sabalenka was later asked about it at the press conference.
She said, “I was like, guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please, do not do it around the tennis courts.”
“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell and perform at your best,” she said after winning the match. She even admitted that she wasn’t sure if the smell was from inside or outside since it was windy.
In a statement, the USTA spokesperson said their employees continue to work to maintain a smoke-free environment on the grounds of the tennis center.
“This includes enforcement by our security and guest services teams when they are made aware of any individual that may be smoking, making them aware that although it may be legal in NY, that smoking is not permitted on parks property including the tennis center,” they said.
While complaints of a marijuana smell have occurred in past years at the US Open, this appears to be the first time that attendees have complained of a sewage odor.
