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Britain's Katie Boulter says she feels she has to "decide between my physical health and my ranking" as the race persists for a place in next January's Australian Open main draw.

While the standard WTA Tour competitive period is completed, there are still ranking points to be earned in South American nations, Argentina, Ecuador and international tournaments.

The female competitor lineup for the first Grand Slam of the 2026 season will be calculated from the international positions of the December cutoff, which could create a difficult choice for players close to the qualification line.

Injury Concerns

Previous British leading competitor Boulter experienced an hip muscle in her final event of the year in Asian venues last month, and is now weighing up whether to participate in the WTA 125 Challenger event in French locations, France, in the opening days of December.

Boulter's ongoing health concern, and the situation she would need to secure at least multiple victories in Angers to improve her standing, means she may likely ultimately not competing.

Varying Approaches

In comparison, men's competitors are not facing the identical situation, as for the premier occasion the men's Australian Open competitor lineup will be drawn up from this week's positions, which is the ATP's official year-end ranking date.

The adjustment is intended to preventing players from seeking position points during what is essentially the rest interval.

Professional Adjustments

This period has been a difficult one for Boulter.

She secured just fourteen professional major tournament matches and lately parted ways with coach Biljana Veselinovic after a extended collaboration in which she captured three WTA titles.

"Biljana is an exceptional trainer, and an extremely good individual as well, which makes things very difficult," Boulter commented.

The pursuit for a new trainer is well under way, looking for someone who has elite experience as Boulter still believes she can be a world-class athlete.

Professional Aspirations

"Moving ahead with a replacement instructor, one thing I'm very clear on is that they are going to be someone who has extensive knowledge in how to advance to the peak performance of this sport," she explained.

"I've been placed as elevated as twenty-three and I know I can climb back to that level. I am not convinced my standard has disappeared, I feel the reliability should develop.

"My goal is not merely to be ranked 50, forty, 30, 20 - we've accomplished that. The objective is to be within the elite group."