Fast forward 12 months and the resurgent Spaniard is into her maiden major semi-final, lining up a clash with Aryna Sabalenka after sending in-form American Coco Gauff crashing out in a big Australian Open upset.
Once ranked as high as No.2 in the world, the 11th-seeded Badosadeclared she was now playing better than ever after sending Gauff packing 7-5 6-4.
The No.3 seed from the US had been riding a 13-match winning streak but it counted for nought as Badosa claimed the only break of serve in the 11th game of the first set.
Badosa, 27, went up two breaks in the second set and overcame a few jittery moments before closing out the match in one hour and 43 minutes.
Paula Badosa can scarcely believe the magnitude of her win over Coco Gauff. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
The prize for Badosa is a maiden grand slam semi-final, where she will take on two-time defending champion Sabalenka, who overcame a scare from Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win 6-2 2-6 6-3.
"I'm never going to feel freedom until I win the tournament," Badosa said.
"I'm always like this. It's my personality. It's my character.
"Today, of course, maybe I had a little bit less expectations, but I still had pressure because I wanted to win so badly."
She will encounter a match-hardened Sabalenka, who had to overcome tough conditions and big-hitting Pavlyuchenkova.
"Sometimes maybe it's good to have these tough battles, to go through it, to be tougher for these last matches of the tournament ... I cannot wait to play against Paula," Sabalenka said.
Badosa, too, will be ready for her moment in the sun after a stress fracture of the L4/L5 vertebrae raised the prospect of premature retirement early last year.
"It wasn't recovering well," she said.
"The facet joints were inflamed all the time. Every time I was doing exercises, I had to stop because it wasn't responding well.
"... It was a mix of my back, mentally and everything else.
"That was the moment I was thinking maybe I'm not made for being back again. I was doubting a lot."
Badosa's previous best results at the majors were quarter-finals at the 2021 French Open and last year's US Open.
Both she and Gauff had only dropped only one set in their previous four matches at Melbourne Park.
"As you know, I'm a very emotional person," said Badosa.
"I came in, I wanted to play my best game and I think I did it.
"Coco at the beginning, she was playing insane tennis, but I'm super proud of the level I gave today."
Gauff was hampered by a string of unforced errors, many on her forehand.
Coco Gauff was well below her best in a shock loss to Paula Badosa. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
"Obviously it's tough right afterwards and I'm still disappointed," said the American, who won her maiden major title at the 2023 US Open and reached the semis last year at the Australian and French Opens.
"I think the way I played, even though it wasn't my best, I gave it my all on the court, so that's something to be proud of.
"I fought until the end."
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