Body or World Standing - Boulter's Melbourne Grand Slam Dilemma
British Katie Boulter admits she feels she has to "decide between my physical health and my ranking" as the competition persists for a spot in next January's Australian Open main event.
While the regular WTA Tour competitive period is finished, there are still ranking points to be gained in Latin American countries, regional locations, multiple sites and European destinations.
The female competitor lineup for the initial Grand Slam of the forthcoming season will be calculated from the world rankings of 8 December, which could create a difficult choice for players close to the selection threshold.
Health Challenges
Previous British top-ranked player Boulter suffered an abductor in her concluding competition of the year in Asian venues last month, and is now evaluating whether to participate in the WTA 125 development competition in European venues, the European nation, in the opening days of December.
The athlete's current physical issue, and the situation she would need to achieve at least several wins in the French tournament to improve her ranking, means she may well eventually not participating.
Contrasting Methods
In comparison, male players are not confronting the same predicament, as for the first time the male Australian Open participant roster will be created from this week's standings, which is the ATP's official season-concluding ranking date.
The change is designed to deterring competitors from chasing ranking points during what is fundamentally the break period.
Coaching Changes
This year has been a demanding one for Boulter.
She won only fourteen professional primary competition matches and currently split with coach Biljana Veselinovic after a extended partnership in which she won several WTA victories.
"Biljana is an outstanding trainer, and an exceptionally good individual as well, which produces circumstances particularly challenging," Boulter said.
The search for a replacement coach is currently ongoing, searching for an individual who has high-level background as Boulter still believes she can be a world-class athlete.
Career Objectives
"Going forward with a replacement instructor, an important factor I'm completely sure on is that they are going to be an individual who has a lot of expertise in how to make it to the peak performance of this profession," she stated.
"I've been ranked as advanced as twenty-three and I believe I can get back to that position. I don't think my performance has disappeared, I feel the consistency must enhance.
"My aim is not to be ranked fifty, forty, thirty, twenty - we've been there. The goal is to be inside 20."