Melbourne VIC, Australia, 25 October 2016 | tennis.com.au

Rising star Lizette Cabrera has her sights set on Australian Open 2017 after securing a qualifying wildcard.

Cabrera’s two recent Pro Tour titles saw her top a leaderboard of Australian women vying for the most number of points across four $25,000 tournaments in Tweed Heads, Brisbane, Toowoomba and Cairns.

Cabrera, from Queensland, won in Tweed Heads and Brisbane and reached the quarterfinals in Cairns, building a 12-match winning streak that made her by far the best-performed Aussie woman on the circuit.

Her achievement opens the door for a potential Grand Slam debut in January.

“I’m really excited and grateful for the opportunity to receive the qualifying wildcard for the Australian Open,” the 18-year-old said.

“It has been a great year for me and I’m going to continue to train hard and prepare for the challenge of a lifetime, come January.”

Cabrera, along with fellow Queenslander Ash Barty and Victorians Arina Rodionova and Tammi Patterson, will also compete for an Australian Open main draw wildcard.

This is to be awarded to the best-performed Australian female at the $50,000 Australian Pro Tour events in Canberra and Bendigo.

Patterson was the winner of last year’s main-draw wildcard after reaching the semifinals in Bendigo as a qualifier.