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Britain's Katie Boulter says she feels she has to "pick between my physical condition and my professional position" as the competition persists for a position in the upcoming January Australian Open primary competition.

While the standard WTA Tour competitive period is finished, there are still ranking points to be won in Latin American countries, neighboring countries, Ecuador and international tournaments.

The female competitor lineup for the opening Grand Slam of the 2026 season will be based on the international positions of the December cutoff, which could present a dilemma for athletes close to the qualification line.

Health Challenges

Ex- British top-ranked player Boulter experienced an hip muscle in her concluding competition of the year in Asian venues last month, and is now considering whether to participate in the WTA 125 Challenger event in French locations, the European nation, in the initial week of December.

Boulter's recent injury, and the situation she would need to achieve at least multiple victories in the European event to improve her ranking, means she may well end up not playing.

Varying Approaches

In contrast, men's competitors are not experiencing the identical dilemma, as for the first time the men's Australian Open entry list will be established from current week's rankings, which is the ATP's formal year-end standing calculation.

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

Professional Adjustments

This year has been a challenging one for Boulter.

She won only 14 elite major tournament matches and recently parted ways with trainer Biljana Veselinovic after a lengthy working relationship in which she captured several WTA championships.

"Biljana is an incredible instructor, and an extremely good human as well, which produces circumstances very difficult," Boulter commented.

The pursuit for a different coach is well under way, looking for someone who has high-level background as Boulter continues to think she can be a top-20 player.

Future Goals

"Going forward with a new coach, an important factor I'm completely sure on is that they are going to be a professional who has a lot of expertise in how to make it to the peak performance of this sport," she explained.

"I've been placed as high as 23 and I know I can return to that position. I am not convinced my performance has disappeared, I feel the reliability must enhance.

"My aim is not simply to be positioned fifty, forty, thirty, twenty - we've achieved that. The aim is to be within the elite group."