WITH a new coach in tow and the Australian Open in her sights, Katie Boulter has her mojo back.

Last season was a struggle as Boulter dropped from 24th in the rankings to outside the top 100, losing her British number one ranking to Emma Raducanu and battling niggling injuries.

“Adios 2025, don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” wrote Boulter on Instagram.

The 29-year-old chose to make a big change, splitting from long-term coach Biljana Veselinovic and turning to American Michael Joyce, who has previously worked with Maria Sharapova, Jessica Pegula and Johanna Konta.

The pair appear to have gelled well, while Boulter’s positive mood is also down to her impending wedding to Australian star Alex De Minaur.

“Seeing January 1 2026 was a good start,” she said. “I’m getting married this year. It’s going to be an unbelievable year, one of the best ones in my life, no matter what happens on the tennis court. I think for me that’s already given me a positive push.

“I feel like having a new coach, having a new set-up, everything is fresh and exciting again. Whereas I feel like I was dragging my feet a little bit at the end of last year just trying to get through the whole entire year without injuries.”

Boulter has fallen so far down the rankings that she was unsure whether she would even make the main draw of the Australian Open.

She had been preparing to play in qualifying on Monday only to find out at 5pm on Sunday that a withdrawal had spared her the preliminaries — although a first-round draw against 10th seed Belinda Bencic was scant reward.

“Saturday and Sunday were pretty stressful,” she said. “I’m not precious about playing quallies. I have no problem at all going out there and competing. But, obviously, when you are one out, you start thinking.

“You start hearing things on tour about who may or may not be coming. It’s a very difficult situation to be in at that point.”

Boulter would like to see the WTA copy the ATP, who moved the ranking cut-off for the Australian Open forward to the end of the 2025 season, removing the temptation for players to chase points at lower-level events.

“I feel like the WTA should maybe follow that, because I’m there in the middle of my pre-season wondering whether I should be going to play, because other people are playing,” she said. “It can just result in more injuries.”