Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage together. (Image: Getty.)
Jodie Burrage has insisted that she won’t practice with again, after picking up several injuries in training against the British No. 1.
The 25-year-old is playing in a Grand Slam for the first time in a year at the due to several injuries. She had wrist surgery last year and picked up an ankle issue that kept her sidelined for six months.
Burrage, a good friend of Boulter, suffered an injury while attempting a drop shot against her fellow Brit in practice. And she has vowed to never train with Boulter again in fear of hurting herself further.
“I still have PTSD every time I run for a drop shot,” Burrage said. “I am not practising with Katie ever again. Every time I’m on the practice court with her, I hurt myself. Genuine. I fractured my knee against her. Done my ankle.”
Burrage was beaten in the second round of the last year and returns to Melbourne to take on French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean in the first round.
The London-born star was ranked world No. 84 when she picked up a long-term injury and is determined to get back to that level.
“When I got injured I was at my career high, which is a tough one to take,” Burrage added. “But it gives me belief that I can get back to that level. With the tennis that I’ve been playing in the last month, I would say I’m getting back to that level.
Jodie Burrage won’t train with Katie Boulter in Australia. (Image: Getty)
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“Knowing that I’ve been there already, it obviously gives you more belief. If someone tells me, ‘I think you can be top 50’, well, I have not been top 50, so I’m not going to believe them. But being top 100, I believe I can belong there.”
Boulter, meanwhile, made the second round Down Under last year and will replicate that feat if she defeats Canadian star Rebecca Marino in her opening match.
“My belief is growing every single day the more matches I play like that ”, Boulter said. “I believe I’m at that level and I can be that every day.
“Now it’s about making sure I’m playing at that level each week and I think the physicality that I’ve brought to my game will become more consistent. Hopefully it will help me become steadier all year round.
“I think going into this year it will be more about me learning what I should and shouldn’t do before Slams, should I play the week before, whether I don’t, my build up going into a Slam, there’s a little bit more emphasis on it for sure. It’s about trusting my play and making sure the preparations are right going into those tournaments.”