By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
It’s not only Alex Eala who is carrying the banner of the Philippines in the current international tennis tournaments.
Filipina-Australian Lizette Cabrera and her partner Maddison Inglis pulled-off an impressive comeback effort against Renata Voracova of Czech Republic and Wang Yafan of China, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 during the first round of the 2021 Australian Open Women’s doubles.
Despite losing in the women’s singles category against world no. 2 Simona Halep in the first round, it was a different story for Cabrera during the doubles event.
The Filipina and her partner needed two tie-breakers to finally clinch the win, both in the first set, 7-3, and the deciding set, 12-10.
Down 2-4 in the first set, the tandem of Cabrera and Inglis held onto their strong service game and broke through after staying aggressive in the net to force a tiebreaker.
The next two sets were action-packed with both duos relying on their strong service and volley games but it was Cabrera and Inglis who held more services that eventually helped them win the match.
Cabrera will seek to keep her Australian Open hopes alive against the tough Japanese duo of Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara today.