‘IWAGAYWAY ANG bandera ng Pilipinas,’ that is one of the phrases that got the Filipinos yelling right after witnessing a historic moment when a Filipino tennis player achieved victory at the US Open last Monday (August 15). 

During an intense match between Denmark’s Clara Tauson at the US Open, Alex Eala outscored her opponent, which later led to a historic moment amongst Filipinos: her mouthing the swear word with the smile of victory was caught in a close-up shot.

Right after the clip went viral, many Filipinos immediately went in front of their keyboards and wrote their hilarity towards the moment. 

On X, a user shared on how Eala saying the word was the highlight of the match for her. 

Another X user event edited a picture of Filipinos merging with the Philippine flag as a meme. 

One even wrote that seeing her mouth the word was not part of her 2025 bingo card. 

If it’s bad, then why do we love to say it? 

While the swear word is heavily degrading depending on the context of its usage, the said swear word has actually held a lot of significance when it comes to the daily lives of Filipinos. 

As children, we were taught not to say such words, as the phrase heavily refers to calling somebody’s mother a whore. However, as we get older, the use of that word varies depending on our tone and its context. 

One of the  examples of this is when Alex Eala began mouthing the word the moment that she hit the goal, and whilst most Filipinos find it to be relatable (whenever we’re ecstatic about something), it also brings the culture of Filipinos to the tennis court.  

Last Monday, Alex Eala made history after beating Denmark’s Clara Tauson at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York.