Physical Health or Ranking - Katie Boulter's Australian Open Predicament
Britain's Katie Boulter states she believes she has to "decide between my body and my ranking" as the competition persists for a spot in January's Australian Open main event.
While the standard WTA Tour tournament schedule is completed, there are still position points to be earned in Latin American countries, Argentina, Ecuador and European destinations.
The female entry list for the initial Grand Slam of the forthcoming season will be based on the world rankings of the December cutoff, which could present a dilemma for athletes approaching the cut.
Physical Setbacks
Former British top-ranked player Boulter tore an hip muscle in her last tournament of the year in Asian venues last month, and is now considering whether to compete in the WTA 125 Challenger event in Angers, the European nation, in the opening days of December.
Boulter's ongoing health concern, and the fact she would need to win at least three matches in the French tournament to enhance her ranking, means she may probably eventually not competing.
Different Systems
In comparison, men's competitors are not facing the identical situation, as for the premier occasion the men's Australian Open participant roster will be drawn up from this week's positions, which is the ATP's standard year-end position determination.
The change is intended to discouraging players from pursuing ranking points during what is basically the rest interval.
Training Transitions
This period has been a difficult one for Boulter.
She achieved merely 14 professional primary competition matches and lately split with trainer Biljana Veselinovic after a three-year working relationship in which she secured multiple WTA championships.
"Biljana is an outstanding coach, and an exceptionally good person as well, which makes things extremely hard," Boulter said.
The quest for a new coach is well under way, searching for an individual who has elite experience as Boulter still believes she can be a world-class athlete.
Career Objectives
"Going forward with a new coach, one thing I'm very clear on is that they are going to be someone who has considerable knowledge in how to make it to the highest echelon of this sport," she said.
"I've been placed as high as 23 and I believe I can climb back to that position. I am not convinced my performance has diminished, I feel the consistency needs to enhance.
"My goal is not to be ranked 50, forty, thirty, twenty - we've achieved that. The aim is to be among the top twenty."