By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Friday, September 1, 2023
NEW YORK—Court 17 is Chaos Court for some standouts during this US Open.
Jelena Ostapenko mastered the mayhem beating American Bernarda Pera 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to set up a US Open fourth round clash vs. world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
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In the aftermath of Alexander Zverev's US Open straight-sets first round win, he said cozy Court 17 smelled like rapper Snoop Dogg's house after a chronic session.
"The whole court smells like weed," Zverev said. "Court 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg's living room."
The Olympic gold-medal champion remarks came after eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari, who was upset in the opening round, also cited the smell of marijuana coming from Flushing Meadows Corona park during her first-round match on Court 17.
Today, Ostapenko said the smell of weed wasn't an issue—she's come to expect that—rather it was a loud fan yelling before the Latvian served that annoyed the combustible No. 20 seed.
"With the weed, it's a normal thing. Every match I smell it," Ostapenko said. "It's not a surprise they were complaining about.
"But, yeah, this fan, I was leading 4-1 in the third set, and then suddenly I served a serve and he started to shout like crazy. Yeah, not like one or two words, I think two sentences in a row. Of course, the chair umpire told him to be quiet."
Ostapenko complained to the chair umpire and eventually the rowdy fan was escorted out of the court by security.
The 2017 Roland Garros champion will seek calmer conditions when she faces reigning champion Iga Swiatek for a quarterfinal spot.
Ostapenko is 3-0 lifetime vs. Swiatek, including squeezing out a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) in the 2022 Dubai round of 16.
"With Jelena, it's a little bit like one day she can play a perfect match and just put everything in even though she's really risking, and the other day can be different," said Swiatek, who has dropped just nine games through three rounds. "You never know what to expect. But I kind of accept that, you know, all these players they are going to play the best tennis against me. I felt that couple times already.
"It's not easy against her. We played a really tight match two years ago in Dubai. For sure I'm getting close."
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty