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

While the regular WTA Tour season is completed, there are still position points to be won in Latin American countries, Argentina, Ecuador and European destinations.

The women's competitor lineup for the opening Grand Slam of the 2026 season will be calculated from the world rankings of 8 December, which could cause a dilemma for athletes close to the cut.

Physical Setbacks

Previous British number one Boulter suffered an hip muscle in her final event of the year in Asian venues last period, and is now weighing up whether to participate in the WTA 125 development competition in French locations, the continental destination, in the opening days of December.

The athlete's ongoing health concern, and the fact she would need to win at least three matches in the French tournament to improve her ranking, means she may probably eventually not playing.

Contrasting Methods

In comparison, male athletes are not experiencing the identical situation, as for the first time the male Australian Open competitor lineup will be created from current week's rankings, which is the ATP's official annual-final standing calculation.

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

Coaching Changes

This period has been a challenging one for Boulter.

She secured just 14 elite main-draw games and recently parted ways with instructor Biljana Veselinovic after a extended partnership in which she secured three WTA championships.

"Biljana is an outstanding coach, and an exceptionally excellent human as well, which makes things very difficult," Boulter stated.

The pursuit for a new instructor is well under way, searching for someone who has elite experience as Boulter still believes she can be a elite-level athlete.

Professional Aspirations

"Progressing with a new coach, one thing I'm completely sure on is that they are going to be an individual who has extensive experience in how to succeed to the highest echelon of this game," she explained.

"I've been positioned as elevated as twenty-three and I know I can climb back to that position. I am not convinced my standard has diminished, I think the consistency needs to enhance.

"My objective is not simply to be positioned 50, 40, thirty, 20 - we've accomplished that. The goal is to be within 20."