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Britain's Katie Boulter says she feels she has to "decide between my physical health and my ranking" as the competition carries on for a position in the upcoming January Australian Open main event.

While the typical WTA Tour tournament schedule is completed, there are still ranking points to be gained in Latin American countries, Argentina, Ecuador and international tournaments.

The female participant roster for the opening Grand Slam of the upcoming season will be determined by the international positions of early December, which could cause a dilemma for players approaching the cut.

Health Challenges

Ex- British top-ranked player Boulter experienced an groin injury in her last tournament of the year in Hong Kong last month, and is now weighing up whether to participate in the WTA 125 Challenger event in Angers, the continental destination, in the initial week of December.

Boulter's ongoing health concern, and the situation she would need to secure at least several wins in Angers to enhance her standing, means she may well ultimately not competing.

Varying Approaches

In contrast, male athletes are not facing the same situation, as for the premier occasion the male Australian Open participant roster will be created from present week's positions, which is the ATP's official year-end standing calculation.

The change is aimed at deterring competitors from pursuing ranking points during what is fundamentally the off-season.

Coaching Changes

This period has been a challenging one for Boulter.

She secured just 14 professional main-draw matches and recently split with coach Biljana Veselinovic after a three-year partnership in which she captured three WTA victories.

"Biljana is an outstanding coach, and an extremely good individual as well, which produces circumstances extremely hard," Boulter said.

The search for a new coach is actively progressing, searching for someone who has high-level experience as Boulter maintains the belief she can be a elite-level athlete.

Career Objectives

"Moving ahead with a different trainer, an important factor I'm absolutely certain on is that they are going to be an individual who has extensive knowledge in how to make it to the highest echelon of this game," she said.

"I've been positioned as elevated as 23 and I am confident I can get back to that position. I don't believe my performance has diminished, I believe the consistency needs to enhance.

"My objective is not simply to be ranked 50, 40, thirty, 20 - we've accomplished that. The goal is to be inside the top twenty."