Boulter misses out on Australian Open main draw

Former British number one Katie Boulter has missed out on a place in the main draw for the Australian Open.

There are 104 players who have received direct entry into the Melbourne draw, including those with protected rankings, with Boulter currently ranked 106.

The 29-year-old will now have to go through qualifying at Melbourne Park in January for the first Grand Slam of 2026.

Boulter had the opportunity to earn extra ranking points in the WTA 125 challenger event in France last week but opted not to play after sustaining a hip injury in Hong Kong in October.

She told BBC Sport in November that she had to “choose between my body and my ranking” when weighing up whether to play to improve her ranking.

“If there are tournaments there, it gives you an opportunity because you want to make the main draw of Australia,” she said at the time.

“I think I know my own right choice, but it’s difficult because it means that everyone else is going to be playing and passing me.”

Boulter has won just 14 Tour-level main-draw matches this year and recently split with coach Biljana Veselinovic after a three-year partnership in which she won three WTA titles.

For the first time, the men’s Australian Open entry list was drawn up in November – which is the ATP’s official year-end ranking date – with the earlier draw aimed at discouraging players from chasing ranking points in the off season, as Boulter could have.

The women’s entry list was based on the world rankings as of 8 December.

“There has to be somewhere where you draw the line and you give people an opportunity to recuperate and also get a good pre-season in,” Boulter said.

“I feel like this year we’ve seen so many burnouts, and so many people not playing the end of year because of mental health issues as well as body issues, and I do think it contributes to it.”