The 2022 US Open is currently underway in New York and it’s a great show from some of the best athletes in the world. However, there was some controversy before the main draw began, when a rather ‘creepy’ moment took place in the women’s qualifiers. This happened with 16-year old Sara Bejlek from Czech Republic.
She completed a great comeback victory in the qualifiers to qualify for the main draw and when she completed the victory, she walked over to her coach and dad. Here, she was greeted with some pats on her backside (butt) and also a kiss on the mouth, which looked very unprofessional and outright creepy when it was caught on camera.
Twitter reacts – Sara Bejlek’s controversy
Twitter immediately erupted when this video went viral and there were a number of different reactions to the same. Most of the comments spoke about how ‘dirty’ the moment was and how it seemed like she was being taken advantage of, as she is only 16 years old. Others however, spoke about the fact that different cultures and different families greet each other differently.
Other countries, other households, other cultures in our big World are not the same as Americans and their faux puritanical standards. To the father, she'll always be his little girl. We're not accustom to this but it's not that creepy. Just different. #SaraBejlek
— Coach Tim Ozga – Ordinary Citizen (@DTim20) August 31, 2022
'Creepy' butt taps of 16-year-old Sara Bejlek prompt US Open outrage https://t.co/3ydKtbmkXu pic.twitter.com/RKZUW3TNwz
— New York Post (@nypost) August 30, 2022
After losing the first set of her final qualifying game at US Open 2022 against Britain’s Heather Watson, she managed to win the next couple of sets and that’s when the coach was seen grabbing her backside and patting it multiple times, before kissing her. Many users asked other Twitter users not to have double standards, as many other global issues go unnoticed, as compared to this small incident in New York.
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Making a grand slam debut at that age is quite an achievement but her achievement was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding her victory and celebration with the father. When she moved on to Round 1 of the US Open 2022 main draw, she ended up losing in straight sets to Russia’s Ludmilla Samsonova.
A lot of fuss over "inappropriate" celebration with Sara Bejlek and her father and coach but "nothing to see here" when Ashley Biden says her father Joe Biden took inappropriate showers with her.
— 𝓟𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓮 𝓜𝓬𝓟𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓮 (@Peasie2024) September 1, 2022
The furore on social media reached such a stage that it led to people who don’t know tennis also commenting on and sharing the video. Quite a few people mentioned that US Open shouldn’t allow such behaviour to repeat and he was also termed as a ‘pedo’ by several hundred users. See the celebration video here:
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
I don’t care! Sara Bejlek ‘s dad and coach are creepy AF! This is predatory behavior and the @usopen shoyod not allow it!#USOpen #tennis #pedo
— GUERNICA (@GUERNICAbless) September 1, 2022
Sara herself opened her silence on the matter, saying, “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.” It’s good that she spoke up about it so that similar incidents don’t repeat from her team or from anyone else’s in the future.
For more updates on the US Open 2022 and other tennis news, remember to always stay tuned to ReadScoops.com .
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