MANILA, Philippines — "I don't see tennis as just who I am, it's what I do."
That was the focal point of discussion raised by WTA Top 200 tennis star Lizette Cabrera in her recent appearance on Philstar: Home Base.
Though putting her best effort in her flourishing tennis career, the Australia-born Pinay revealed that she thrives on the principle that her role as a tennis player was not the be-all and end-all of her life.
A refreshing and rather unique take as an athlete, Cabrera preached the importance of maintaining balance in one's life as to not let herself be dragged down should games not go her way.
"It's easy to really be upset if I'm losing because I think tennis is who I am," Cabrera said.
"But if I go, you know what? Tennis is just what I do and results don't affect the person that I am, how I treat people and everything... That's really important," she continued.
Having more down time than usual due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Cabrera revealed that she had been using a good chunk of her energy in also working on herself outside of the courts -- something that she considers crucial for her life after she peaks in the sport.
"I want to make sure that I do have an identity outside of tennis, you know... I wanna make sure that I set myself up for after my career," said Cabrera.
"I think a lot of athletes are so focused on their sport now, which is totally fine. But for me, your career is actually really short. It's only a third of your life and you have so much more of your life after tennis, or after your sport," she added.
Right now though, Cabrera is keeping herself busy on the tennis courts as she is now in Paris for the French Open.
Having made big strides in her career recently, Cabrera seeks to continue her rise in the ranks and hopes to barge into the Top 100 of the WTA rankings.
It's a goal which, according to her, could very well be reached by the end of the year.
"I think if I can continue to build every week and just kind of go deep in tournaments and keep healthy, I definitely think it's an achievable goal," said Cabrera.