Body versus World Standing - Boulter's Melbourne Grand Slam Dilemma
Britain's Katie Boulter admits she feels she has to "pick between my body and my professional position" as the race persists for a place in January's Australian Open primary competition.
While the typical WTA Tour tournament schedule is finished, there are still standing points to be earned in Latin American countries, neighboring countries, various venues and European destinations.
The female participant roster for the initial Grand Slam of the forthcoming season will be determined by the world rankings of the December cutoff, which could cause a dilemma for athletes close to the selection threshold.
Physical Setbacks
Ex- British leading competitor Boulter suffered an abductor in her concluding competition of the year in Asian venues last timeframe, and is now evaluating whether to play in the WTA 125 Challenger event in Angers, the European nation, in the first week of December.
The athlete's recent injury, and the situation she would need to win at least several wins in the European event to improve her ranking, means she may well ultimately not playing.
Varying Approaches
In opposition, male athletes are not confronting the equivalent situation, as for the first time the men's Australian Open entry list will be established from this week's rankings, which is the ATP's standard year-end ranking date.
The change is intended to deterring competitors from pursuing position points during what is basically the off-season.
Coaching Changes
This period has been a challenging one for Boulter.
She secured just 14 elite main-draw contests and currently separated with instructor Biljana Veselinovic after a lengthy working relationship in which she captured three WTA championships.
"Biljana is an exceptional coach, and an extremely quality human as well, which creates situations extremely hard," Boulter commented.
The quest for a replacement instructor is well under way, looking for someone who has high-level experience as Boulter continues to think she can be a elite-level competitor.
Future Goals
"Going forward with a different trainer, an important factor I'm absolutely certain 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 positioned as advanced as 23 and I believe I can get back to that position. I don't believe my level has disappeared, I feel the reliability needs to develop.
"My aim is not to be ranked fifty, forty, thirty, 20 - we've been there. The objective is to be inside 20."