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British Katie Boulter states she believes she has to "choose between my physical health and my world standing" as the competition continues for a position in January's Australian Open primary competition.

While the regular WTA Tour season is over, there are still standing points to be won in South American nations, Argentina, multiple sites and international tournaments.

The women's entry list for the first Grand Slam of the 2026 season will be calculated from the world rankings of early December, which could create a difficult choice for athletes near the cut.

Health Challenges

Previous British leading competitor Boulter tore an hip muscle in her concluding competition of the year in Asian venues last month, and is now weighing up whether to participate in the WTA 125 development competition in French locations, France, in the initial week of December.

Boulter's current physical issue, and the situation she would need to secure at least several wins in Angers to improve her standing, means she may well end up not competing.

Contrasting Methods

In opposition, male athletes are not facing the identical predicament, as for the premier occasion the men's Australian Open entry list will be established from this week's rankings, which is the ATP's formal annual-final ranking date.

The modification is aimed at deterring athletes from pursuing standing points during what is basically the off-season.

Training Transitions

This season has been a difficult one for Boulter.

She secured just 14 Tour-level major tournament matches and recently separated with trainer Biljana Veselinovic after a extended partnership in which she captured multiple WTA victories.

"Biljana is an outstanding instructor, and an remarkably excellent individual as well, which creates situations extremely hard," Boulter said.

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

Career Objectives

"Moving ahead with a different trainer, one thing 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 highest echelon of this game," she explained.

"I've been placed as high as twenty-three and I believe I can return there. I am not convinced my level has disappeared, I believe the consistency must improve.

"My objective is not simply to be placed 50, forty, 30, 20 - we've accomplished that. The aim is to be inside the top twenty."