'I won't practice with Katie Boulter ever again - I still have PTSD'

Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage together.

Jodie Burrage has insisted that she won’t practice with Katie Boulter 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 Australian Open 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 Australian Open last year and returned to Melbourne victorious as she defeated French qualifier Leolia Jeanjean 6-2, 6-4 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.

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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 (taking a set off Iga Swiatek at the United Cup)”, Boulter said. "I believe I’m at that level and I can be that every day.

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