Mother father

Alex Eala fought back from a 1-5 deficit in the final set against the world number 14 in her US Open main draw debut. Don’t call it resilience though, Filipinos have been used and abused for their survival instinct against state violence and neglect. Call it fighting spirit instead. Or heart, without reference to a congressional spouse of vanity and luxury.

Alex is not intimidated by top players even in the grandest of tournaments. Unlike her country subservient to foreign wishes, tolerant to invaders in its body of water studded with islands, disunited in geography, scattered in disunity. Yet they call it diplomacy while it blatantly violates sovereignty. No one calls for armed resistance, the army of sense and sensibility only expects assertive and categorical resistance.

Eala seems to flirt with and thrive in razor thin matches. She finally won the match on her fifth match point to become the first Filipino to win a grand slam match in the Open Era, among her many firsts. Expect her to monopolize maiden feats, she is solitary in her journey. There is no compatriot to share and compete with, the country worships beauty queens more than beautiful athletes.

With her natural but disarming looks, Alex thrilled her countrymen to a historic frenzy, reminiscent of her Eastbourne final where she bungled match points. This time she was more emphatic, even munched a crisp expletive.

Lip readers are certain she blurted the favorite profanity of Filipinos after she smashed the ball to finish a point on the net. She didn’t look evil when she cursed, she instead looked endearing, without comparison to anybody. It’s not even slanderous, the courts recognize it just expresses a feeling of disgust, frustration or celebration. Most of the time, it does not even mean anything.

It should neither be taken seriously nor literally. It does however make other people look even worse, befitting of their evil deeds. But with Alex, it looked cute. She is, to begin with. Again, without comparison to anybody.

But fans didn’t realize cursing is not allowed on court. It would have earned her a warning from the umpire. But he didn’t hear it. The crowd thundered through. Even if he did, he would not have known something was amiss. No translator was around. Alex was free to speak her mind and game. She unleashed both, with her game loud and clear. It can do some serious damage, but not in the same proportion as nature does to humanity.

Nature, not mother nature. Make it gender fair and neutral. Although a couple of a man and a woman can neither be fair nor be neutered, both whose life was altered, from rags to riches, after they bid and built botched and corrupted flood control projects.