Body versus Ranking - Boulter's Melbourne Grand Slam Predicament

British Katie Boulter admits she feels she has to "choose between my physical condition and my ranking" as the race continues for a position in January's Australian Open main event.

While the typical WTA Tour tournament schedule is finished, there are still position points to be gained in Latin American countries, regional locations, various venues and France.

The female participant roster for the opening Grand Slam of the forthcoming season will be calculated from the global standings of early December, which could create a dilemma for competitors close to the selection threshold.

Injury Concerns

Ex- British top-ranked player Boulter experienced an groin injury in her final event of the year in Hong Kong last timeframe, and is now considering whether to participate in the WTA 125 secondary tournament in Angers, France, in the opening days of December.

The athlete's recent injury, and the situation she would need to win at least several wins in Angers to boost her standing, means she may probably ultimately not participating.

Varying Approaches

In contrast, men's competitors are not experiencing the same situation, as for the initial instance the men's Australian Open entry list will be created from this week's standings, which is the ATP's official annual-final ranking date.

The change is aimed at discouraging players from pursuing position points during what is fundamentally the break period.

Professional Adjustments

This period has been a demanding one for Boulter.

She secured just fourteen Tour-level major tournament contests and lately separated with coach Biljana Veselinovic after a three-year partnership in which she won several WTA titles.

"Biljana is an outstanding instructor, and an exceptionally good human as well, which creates situations particularly challenging," Boulter commented.

The pursuit for a new instructor is currently ongoing, seeking an individual who has high-level expertise as Boulter continues to think she can be a top-20 competitor.

Career Objectives

"Progressing with a replacement instructor, one thing I'm completely sure on is that they are going to be an individual who has a lot of expertise in how to succeed to the peak performance of this profession," she said.

"I've been placed as high as 23 and I believe I can return there. I am not convinced my performance has diminished, I believe the consistency needs to improve.

"My aim is not simply to be positioned fifty, 40, 30, twenty - we've been there. The objective is to be inside the elite group."