Body versus World Standing - Boulter's Australian Open Dilemma
Britain's Katie Boulter states she believes she has to "decide between my physical health and my professional position" as the race persists for a spot in the upcoming January Australian Open primary competition.
While the typical WTA Tour tournament schedule is finished, there are still standing points to be earned in South American nations, Argentina, various venues and France.
The women's participant roster for the opening Grand Slam of the forthcoming season will be calculated from the international positions of the December cutoff, which could cause a challenging situation for athletes near the qualification line.
Health Challenges
Previous British top-ranked player Boulter suffered an groin injury in her last tournament of the year in Hong Kong last timeframe, and is now weighing up whether to participate in the WTA 125 development competition in Angers, France, in the first week of December.
Boulter's ongoing health concern, and the situation she would need to secure at least multiple victories in Angers to improve her position, means she may well eventually not participating.
Different Systems
In opposition, male athletes are not facing the same dilemma, as for the premier occasion the male Australian Open entry list will be created from this week's standings, which is the ATP's formal annual-final standing calculation.
The modification is intended to discouraging competitors from chasing ranking points during what is fundamentally the break period.
Professional Adjustments
This period has been a difficult one for Boulter.
She secured just 14 professional main-draw games and lately separated with instructor Biljana Veselinovic after a three-year partnership in which she won three WTA victories.
"Biljana is an incredible trainer, and an remarkably excellent person as well, which produces circumstances extremely hard," Boulter commented.
The search for a replacement coach is well under way, looking for a professional who has high-level expertise as Boulter maintains the belief she can be a elite-level player.
Future Goals
"Going forward with a new coach, a key aspect I'm very clear on is that they are going to be a professional who has a lot of expertise in how to succeed to the peak performance of this profession," she said.
"I've been positioned as advanced as 23 and I know I can return to that level. I am not convinced my performance has disappeared, I think the reliability needs to improve.
"My aim is not simply to be positioned fifty, forty, thirty, 20 - we've accomplished that. The objective is to be inside the elite group."