Body or Ranking - Katie Boulter's Melbourne Grand Slam Dilemma

British Katie Boulter states she believes she has to "pick between my physical condition and my ranking" as the competition continues for a place in January's Australian Open main draw.

While the typical WTA Tour tournament schedule is over, there are still ranking points to be won in Chile, Argentina, multiple sites and international tournaments.

The women's participant roster for the first Grand Slam of the forthcoming season will be based on the world rankings of 8 December, which could present a difficult choice for competitors approaching the selection threshold.

Physical Setbacks

Previous British top-ranked player Boulter tore an abductor in her last tournament of the year in international locations last month, and is now weighing up whether to participate in the WTA 125 Challenger event in European venues, the continental destination, in the opening days of December.

Boulter's current physical issue, and the situation she would need to secure at least three matches in the European event to enhance her position, means she may probably end up not participating.

Varying Approaches

In opposition, male players are not confronting the equivalent situation, as for the initial instance the men's Australian Open participant roster will be established from current week's standings, which is the ATP's standard annual-final standing calculation.

The change is aimed at preventing athletes from chasing standing points during what is essentially the rest interval.

Training Transitions

This period has been a challenging one for Boulter.

She achieved merely 14 Tour-level main-draw matches and currently separated with trainer Biljana Veselinovic after a extended working relationship in which she secured multiple WTA victories.

"Biljana is an exceptional instructor, and an extremely excellent person as well, which produces circumstances particularly challenging," Boulter commented.

The quest for a replacement coach is well under way, looking for a professional who has high-level background as Boulter continues to think she can be a top-20 athlete.

Career Objectives

"Going forward with a new coach, an important factor I'm completely sure on is that they are going to be someone who has considerable expertise in how to make it to the very top level of this profession," she said.

"I've been ranked as high as 23 and I am confident I can get back to that level. I don't believe my performance has disappeared, I believe the steadiness should improve.

"My goal is not merely to be positioned fifty, 40, thirty, twenty - we've achieved that. The aim is to be inside 20."