Filipinos would have another tennis player to watch out for in Lizette Cabrera.

Born to Filipino parents in Townsville, Australia, the professional tennis player will be going up against world No. 2 Simona Halep on Monday, February 8, right in the opening round of her fourth Australian Open campaign.

Though it may look like a tall task, Cabrera looks to finally get past the 1st round on home court and make it far in the tournament.

Currently ranked No. 140 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Cabrera was one of the players given a wildcard to join the year-opening Grand Slam, that has been marred by COVID-19 issues.

The 23-year-old is now residing in Brisbane for her tennis career and was able to train with world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, who just won the Yarra Valley Classic over Garbiñe Muguruza on Sunday, February 7.

She was able to further prime herself with practices against Australia’s top tennis players like Madisson Inglis and Kim Birrell, who are also in the Australian Open main draw, and Priscilla Hon.

In her professional career, Cabrera has won 5 International Tennis Federation (ITF) titles, and made her first Grand Slam debut in the 2017 Australian Open via a wildcard she won at the Hobart International.

She also saw action in the 2018 and 2020 editions, and was also in the main draw of the 2018 and 2020 US Open.

Cabrera reached her career-high WTA ranking of 119 on February 3, 2020.

Cabrera started playing tennis at the age of 4, and was exposed to a variety of sports such as golf and inter-school sports, but decided to focus on tennis at the age of 9.

In order to fund her tennis career, her parents Ronnie from Pampanga and Dolly from Basilan – who moved to Australia in their early 20s – worked in a slaughterhouse.

Her father Ronnie, though, passed away last September due to strep throat.

Cabrera adds to the list of Filipino tennis players currently excelling in the pros including teen tennis sensation Alex Eala, Treat Huey and Filipino-Ecuadorian Leylah Annie Fernandez. – Rappler.com