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

While the typical WTA Tour season is over, there are still position points to be earned in Latin American countries, Argentina, Ecuador and European destinations.

The female entry list for the initial Grand Slam of the upcoming season will be determined by the world rankings of early December, which could cause a dilemma for competitors near the selection threshold.

Injury Concerns

Previous British leading competitor Boulter suffered an hip muscle in her concluding competition of the year in Asian venues last period, and is now considering whether to compete in the WTA 125 secondary tournament in French locations, France, in the initial week of December.

Boulter's ongoing health concern, and the fact she would need to win at least several wins in the European event to improve her standing, means she may well ultimately not competing.

Different Systems

In opposition, men's competitors are not facing the equivalent situation, as for the first time the men's Australian Open entry list will be created from present week's positions, which is the ATP's standard year-end ranking date.

The modification is aimed at preventing competitors from seeking position points during what is basically the off-season.

Training Transitions

This year has been a challenging one for Boulter.

She achieved merely 14 elite main-draw matches and recently split with instructor Biljana Veselinovic after a lengthy collaboration in which she secured three WTA victories.

"Biljana is an exceptional coach, and an exceptionally excellent person as well, which produces circumstances particularly challenging," Boulter commented.

The search for a replacement coach is actively progressing, searching for someone who has top-tier background as Boulter continues to think she can be a top-20 athlete.

Future Goals

"Progressing with a different trainer, a key aspect I'm absolutely certain on is that they are going to be someone who has a lot of expertise in how to make it to the peak performance of this game," she explained.

"I've been placed as high as 23 and I am confident I can climb back to that level. I don't believe my level has disappeared, I feel the consistency must enhance.

"My objective is not simply to be positioned fifty, forty, 30, 20 - we've been there. The aim is to be inside 20."