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Pro-tennis player Sara Bejlek has spoken after the manner in which she and her father–along with her coach–celebrated her victory at the US Open raised concerns of sexual harassment.
After the 16-year-old Czech player defeated her British opponent Heather Watson at Friday's women's qualifying rounds, she headed over to her father Jaroslav Bejlek and her coach Jakub Kahoun for a congratulatory embrace.
In a viral clip, Bejlek was seen hugging her father–who firmly patted her backside repeatedly before giving his daughter a smooch on the lips.
Her coach also repeated the gesture of a job well done by continuously patting her derriere.
Some found the interaction disturbing and inappropriate.
\u201cTennis star, Sara Bejlek's father has sparked outrage for the way he celebrated her huge qualifying win at the US Open.\n\nThe 16-year-old Czech is set to make her grand slam debut at the tournament after winning the qualifying rounds in New York over Britain's Heather Watson\u201d— yinksukblog (@yinksukblog) 1661889360
One fan tweeted:
"Whether it was a coach or a family member, this is one creepy stuff.
Another wrote:
"There's absolutely no reason to touch a 16yo girl on her butt like that. It's beyond inappropriate. As the video progressed it got worse and worse."
"And that's not because I see her as 'sexual object' or am projecting as some in comments and quotes are alluding."
The word "creepy" was a common descriptor being tossed around online.
\u201c'Creepy' butt taps of 16-year-old Sara Bejlek prompt US Open outrage https://t.co/3ydKtbmkXu\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1661882074
\u201cCreepy coaches #WTA #USOpen #Bejlek \n She\u2019s 16 \ud83d\ude33\ud83d\ude31\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg Note to whoever needs this - it\u2019s completely normal to hug someone and keep your arms/hands on their shoulder area. No need to migrate southward.\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg I let the first second of the touch go because it's a hug, but it just got worse and worse. These men just kept reaching and feeling her up. There no place for this except for people in relationships.\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg This goes beyond inappropriate by any means. This is technically classed as sexual assault. Yes she is 16 but that should still not give them the right to even touch her anywhere. If it was to happen in the U.K it would be looked into by the Police and probably the CPS. GROSS!!!\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
While many social media users expressed their objections, there were others who accused them of sexualizing a possible culture-specific interaction.
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg Who are you to judge, what is creepy or not? Should not be the tennis player judging that? In different cultures not every touch is blindly viewed as sexual, depends on context and relation. \nBTW: in Czech Republic legal sex age is 15, so mentioning age makes no sense either\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg if you see sexual subtext in the video, it says a lot about you \ud83d\ude09\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg It is pretty common in Czechia. Not something I would do, but many men just don't think about it in a sexual way. Google our easter traditions, you might be shocked.\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg Perfectly normal in some cultures and households. One sees what they want to see. \ud83d\ude44\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@yinksukblog They just do it different over there in Eastern Europe\u201d— yinksukblog (@yinksukblog) 1661889360
\u201c@Outkick The world looks at us like we\u2019re ignorant fools.\u201d— OutKick (@OutKick) 1661960304
\u201c@TheBoiledEgg When you just can see women as sexual objects everything about a woman turns sexual you're the creepy here\u201d— Eggy \ud83e\udd5a (@Eggy \ud83e\udd5a) 1661594427
\u201c@nypost What\u2019s creepy is people talking about this and making it a bigger deal\u2026 leave them alone weirdos\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1661882074
Bejlek responded, telling iSport:
"I saw the video. It was a spontaneous reaction of the whole team. We rejoiced."
\u201c@Outkick If you read between the lines, she gives a pretty good explanation of why Americans are loathed around the world.\u201d— OutKick (@OutKick) 1661960304
She said she and her team came up with a decision to prevent a similar reaction in the future.
"It may certainly seem inconvenient and uncomfortable to some, but we have already discussed it with the team."
"It won’t happen again."
Bejlek added:
"Dad is my dad and always will be. And I’ve known the coach since I was eight years old. He tapes me, he massages me."
"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."