Physical Health versus World Standing - Boulter's Australian Open Dilemma
Britain's Katie Boulter admits she feels she has to "pick between my physical condition and my ranking" as the race persists for a position in January's Australian Open primary competition.
While the standard WTA Tour tournament schedule is completed, there are still position points to be earned in South American nations, neighboring countries, Ecuador and international tournaments.
The female participant roster for the opening Grand Slam of the forthcoming season will be calculated from the international positions of early December, which could cause a challenging situation for players approaching the cut.
Physical Setbacks
Former British top-ranked player Boulter tore an hip muscle in her last tournament of the year in Hong Kong last timeframe, and is now weighing up whether to play in the WTA 125 Challenger event in Angers, France, in the opening days of December.
The athlete's recent injury, and the reality she would need to win at least multiple victories in Angers to boost her position, means she may probably ultimately not playing.
Contrasting Methods
In opposition, male athletes are not confronting the same predicament, as for the first time the men's Australian Open participant roster will be established from this week's rankings, which is the ATP's standard season-concluding position determination.
The change is designed to discouraging players from chasing standing points during what is fundamentally the break period.
Professional Adjustments
This period has been a difficult one for Boulter.
She won only fourteen elite primary competition games and currently split with trainer Biljana Veselinovic after a three-year partnership in which she won three WTA titles.
"Biljana is an incredible instructor, and an exceptionally quality person as well, which creates situations very difficult," Boulter said.
The search for a new trainer is actively progressing, seeking someone who has elite background as Boulter maintains the belief she can be a top-20 player.
Future Goals
"Going forward with a replacement instructor, an important factor I'm very clear on is that they are going to be someone who has considerable expertise in how to advance to the peak performance of this sport," she said.
"I've been positioned as advanced as twenty-three and I know I can get back there. I don't believe my performance has disappeared, I think the reliability needs to develop.
"My aim is not to be positioned fifty, forty, 30, twenty - we've achieved that. The objective is to be among 20."