"Seeing January 1st, 2026, felt really good" - New year, new Boulter as she reminisces on hectic main draw confirmation

Katie Boulter unearthed the 'stressful' few days in the lead up to Australian Open qualifying where she eventually found out that she had made it into the main draw thanks to some withdrawals.

She was put in this position after a very negative 2025 which has seen her slip away from the top of the sport. In her hunt to get back, she has changed coach and looked on the year with a different perspective. She spoke about all of this in her press conference, happy to be back in Melbourne.

"Yeah, I’m really enjoying being here in Melbourne," she began. "As you know, it’s one of my favourite places — I really like it here. I feel like Auckland was a good test for me. It’s always great to start the year by winning a match and then playing a good match against Elina. I feel like my level is kind of there or thereabouts. Now it’s just about getting a few more matches, getting comfortable, and I feel like I’m gaining that on a daily basis. It’s a long year ahead, so there’s no rush."

After her tumble down the rankings last year, change was needed for Boulter. She decided to part company with Biljana Veselinovic, abruptly ending a three-year partnership. She has since teamed up with Maria Sharapova's former coach Michael Joyce in the hopes that this will be the catalyst to turn her forma round.

"I started working with Michael Joyce at the end of last year," Boulter explained. "I’d always really liked him, and I thought he’d done a really good job with a lot of other players — Jesse, Ashlyn. He’s been around a long time on tour. He’s someone I didn’t really get to know that much until I spent time with him on court, and I really like his style."

So far, so good for the pair of them. "I feel like it’s going well at the moment. We’re all quite calm, which really helps," she admitted. "Having that energy around me is important as a tennis player. Everything’s going well and I’m really looking to build on what we’ve started."

The process of finding one was helped by her fiance Alex de Minaur, and when she and Joyce first met, the former British number one believed that it could be a very good match.

"Obviously with a lot of help from Dino and a few people giving me ideas. Funnily enough, I noticed that Michael stopped working with Ashlyn [Kruger] at the end of last year, and I actually thought to myself that he might be a really good match for me," she said. "It just so happened that he was keen when we asked. It was actually reasonably easy. I haven’t tried loads of coaches — I just felt very comfortable instantly, which I think is a really good sign early on."

It is a unique position for Boulter to be in with her only really having two coaches through her professional career - Veselinovic and before that Jeremy Bates. This is also the first time relying on someone outside the LTA.

"It’s a great question because I’ve not had many coaches in my career," she acknowledged. "When I was younger, I had quite a few, but in my immediate pro career it’s really just been two — Jeremy and Biljana — both through the LTA."

One of Joyce's former understudies was Johanna Konta, another former British number one. This gave Boulter hop that this is the right choice. "Michael worked with Johanna Konta quite a few years ago, and I think that’s when I first met him. I thought he was a really good guy. Going out and finding a coach yourself isn’t something I’m used to. You see people on tour every day, but you don’t really know what they’re like as a coach. You have to trust your instincts and gut feeling, and I think that matched up pretty well."

This time last year, Boulter was a seed for the major event. Now, it looked like she would have to come through qualifying just to feature in the main draw. However, a fortunate turn of events has seen the 29-year-old squeeze into the event by the skin of her teeth.

"Saturday and Sunday were pretty stressful, to be completely honest," Boulter stated. "I’m not precious about playing qualifying — I have no problem going out there and competing if that’s where I’m at. I had my head set on playing qualies and I was prepared for that. But when you’re one out, you start hearing things on tour about who may or may not be coming. It’s a very difficult situation to be in. I just tried to focus on what I was doing and prepare for Monday, and I think I did a pretty good job of that — but it was stressful."

It was at the last minute she found out that she did not need to go through qualifying. "Literally after the draw came out, around 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Dino texted me saying that someone pulled out. We’d seen a few rumours in the press, which made it harder because everyone kept saying, 'Oh, you’re in,' when I wasn’t. That was a tough day mentally, just trying to stay straight and not think too much. But it worked out in the end."

For the men's event, the cut-off was a lot earlier in the rankings. If that was the case for the women's tournament, then Boulter would have not been through this concerning process. She dropped out of the top 104 after other players leapfrogged her in smaller WTA tournaments going on in the off-season, which she chose not to participate in.

"This is where I think the WTA could maybe help a bit more. I noticed the ATP introduced a final cut-off date, and I feel like the WTA should follow that. I was in the middle of my preseason wondering whether I should play another tournament because other people were playing.

There was a lot of negative issues due to this, with Boulter highlighting them. "That’s unsettling and doesn’t really allow players to get a proper preseason. It can result in more injuries if you’re constantly chasing points just to try to make a main draw. It’s not a position I want to be in. If that’s where I’m at, I’ll accept it, but getting injured at the end of last year didn’t help. In Tokyo, I qualified and played great, but unfortunately that’s when the injury came. I’d really like to see that rule change."

It does not get much tougher than Belinda Bencic for a first round match. The Swiss tennis player was instrumental in her country's run to the final of the United Cup, winning all her singles contests.

"No easy matches. She’s clearly coming in with a lot of form and has won a lot of matches," Boulter commented. "She played great at the end of last year, and what she’s doing is so inspiring — coming back after having a child and playing at one of the best levels in the world."

Boulter is not putting any pressure on herself, just looking to go out and put on a show. "For me, it’s another opportunity. I’m just going to go out and swing. I don’t think there’s much pressure — I don’t think anyone in this room expects me to win that match. I’m excited for it. I’m happy to get a tough draw because I can show what I can do. And if not, we go back to work. It’s a long year, and this feels like a full reset for me."

It was a dreadful campaign for Boulter last year, which is why she was so relieved to get into 2026 with better things hopefully on the horizon for the three-time WTA title winner.

"Seeing January 1st, 2026, felt really good," Boulter admitted. "I’m getting married this year, and it’s going to be one of the best years of my life no matter what happens on the tennis court. That already gave me a positive push. Having a new coach and a new setup feels fresh and exciting. At the end of last year, I felt like I was dragging my feet, just trying to get through without injuries. I was really excited when the new year came around, and I feel like we put in a good preseason. That was the main thing."