Teen star Sara Bejlek says she and her father will no longer be celebrating the same way they did in a video that has gone viral at the US Open.
Social media erupted this week over the footage of the 16-year-old celebrating a victory in US Open qualifying over the weekend before she made her grand slam debut on Tuesday.
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In qualifying, the World No. 194 was seen on the live TV broadcast on Amazon Prime shaking hands with her opponent and chair umpire and then walking over to her father Jaroslav Bejlek before embracing him as they celebrated a special moment together.
The viral video appeared to show her father pat her on her backside.
Bejlek, from the Czech Republic, was then seen walking over and hugging her coach Jakub Kahoun, who was also seen appearing to pat her on the backside.
She walked away from the exchange smiling and waving towards other fans.
Bejlek has now spoken publicly for the first time about the social media reaction and has said the celebration won’t happen again.
Speaking after her 6-1 6-3 first round loss to Russia’s Ludmilla Samsonova of Russia, she was asked about the video, where she responded: “Of course I saw the video”.
“It was a spontaneous reaction of the whole team. We rejoiced. 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 Saturday, people on Twitter were taken aback by the close celebration between the teenage athlete and her father and longtime coach, The New York Post reports.
“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.”
The divisive celebrations have made headlines around the world.
Sportskeeda reports fans on Twitter have labelled the video in their view as seeming “inappropriate” and “creepy”.
Bejlek has had a breakout season in 2022, including winning three ITF World Tennis Tour titles.
Her meteoric rise up the rankings is further shown by the fact she has competed in just two junior grand slam events, according to the International Tennis Federation.
She made the semi-finals of the juniors at the French Open this year.
She told the ITF she had never been to the United States before this month.
Czech grand slam champion and No. 23 seed at the US Open Barbora Krejcikova says Bejlek is on the right path to having a big career.
“I see big potential and I think Sara has a big future ahead of her,” Krejcikova said.
“She is a really, really good player and is doing really well at ITF World Tennis Tour events. For me, it is good that I can practice with her on a good level and for her I hope it is good that she has the chance to practice with me.
“Sara really is on the right path and has a nice team, who are doing everything to make her better every single day, and I would just tell her to keep going, keep doing her best every day and keep believing in herself.”
