Sara Bejlek, a 16-year-old tennis player from Czechia, said she and her team will no longer be “rejoicing” the same way they did during US Open qualifying that resulted in negative criticism.
While speaking with reporters Tuesday after losing in the first round of the US Open, Bejlek said, “of course I saw the video,” that appeared to show her father Jaroslav Bejlek, and her coach Jakub Kahoun, patting her backside repeatedly after a qualifying match win on Friday.
La célébration de Sara Bejlek (16 ans) après sa qualif pour le tableau principal enflamme les réseaux sociaux à travers le monde. Il s'agit de son père et de son coach. pic.twitter.com/zfhFgRGbql
— Tennis Break News (@tennisbreaknews) August 27, 2022“It was a spontaneous reaction of the whole team. We rejoiced,” Bejlek said. “It may certainly seem inconvenient and uncomfortable to some, but we have already discussed it with the team. It won’t happen again.”
After Bejlek defeated Britain’s Heather Watson on Friday, people on Twitter were taken aback by the close celebration between the teenage athlete and her father and longtime coach.
“Dad is my dad and always will be. And I’ve known the coach since I was 8 years old. He tapes me, he massages me,” Bejlek said.
“If something similar happened in the Czech Republic, no one would deal with it. But since we are in America, everyone comments on it. But as I say, we talked and it won’t happen again.”
Bejlek made her US Open main draw debut on Tuesday, losing to Russia’s Ludmilla Samsonova of Russia in the first round, 6-1, 6-3.
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