Sara Bejlek said she definitely did not think that her father or coach were doing anything inappropriate but noted the team will no longer practice what put her in the headlines for the wrong reasons. After 16-year-old Bejlek defeated Heather Watson in the US Open qualifying final round, her father and coach appeared to pat her on her backside.
The video of Bejlek getting patted backside went viral as many were quick to accuse her team of making inappropriate actions. After losing to Liudmila Samsonova in the US Open first round, Bejlek addressed the outrage that caused the now viral video of her team’s celebration.
“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”.
Bejlek: If this happened in my country, no one would say a thing
Bejlek suggested that the celebration by her team was only the news because it happened in the United States. “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”.
Unfortunately for Bejlek, her Grand Slam debut was marked by a controversy. Bejlek is just 16 and last week she won three qualifying matches to make her Grand Slam main draw debut at Flushing Meadows. Instead of remembering this year’s US Open as the place where she made her Grand Slam debut, she will likely remember it as a place that put in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
