By Benjie de Ubago
Stay glued to your sets for the Australian Open Tennis and watch out for Lizette Cabrera, a Filipina and a promising Tennis star.
She’s as Filipina as they come. Although Lizette Faith Cabrera was born in Townsville, Queensland on December 1997, both her parents Ronnie and Maria migrated from the Philippines and worked in an abattoir. She has two other siblings.
Inspired and encouraged by her father, she held that tennis racket from a very young age and dreamt to be a tennis champion. Driven by her burning ambition, she later moved to Brisbane to train at the National Tennis Academy.
She entered the pro circuit after winning her first professional title in 2016. From 2016 to 2020, she’s participated in various international tennis tournaments qualifying for the French Open and Wimbledon in 2018. She made her debut at the US Open after winning the wild card and has since played in every continent.
Among her many wins include: Doubles title in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Caserta, Italy; Challenger Banqua national de Granby in Canada; Bendigo Women’s International, the ITF Brisbane; Darwin International and the WTA at Guangzhou; Brisbane International Australian Open and the International Australian Open.
Today, Lizette’s ranking in the singles is number 6 in Australia and 113 in the world, with a bright, promising future.
She recognizes and is grateful for the sacrifices her parents had made for her; having to drive her to and from practices, and helping financially to get her career going. Sadly, her father who was an avid tennis fan passed away late last year. “He would have loved to sit in the reserved box to watch me,” she said. But when she steps on that hardcourt at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, home to the Australian Open, her father will definitely be on her mind.
She realizes she’s still got a long way to go. But she is thrilled to be matched up with big name tennis stars. The advice she takes with her “work hard, a good attitude and not to forget it’s a long journey.” And if she didn’t become a tennis player, what would she be? A dancer. She’s Filipina still at heart after all.
9 February 2020
