The Year of Paula Badosa

How life changes in a year, Paula Badosa might think, who at the beginning of 2024 was uncertain if she could continue her career due to a chronic back injury that sidelined her for six months. The Spaniard, in a resurgence earned through hard work, is once again competing for major achievements and Australia is the first place on the list to prove it.

From appearing in Melbourne last year on the brink of falling out of the top 100, to being on the verge of breaking into the top ten. To achieve this, she will need to improve on last year's third round, a challenging task because, despite her seeding, the draw has been tough. She will debut against Xinyu Wang, ranked 37th in the world, and could face Marta Kostyuk (18) in the third round, Jessica Pegula (7) in the round of 16, and Coco Gauff (3) in the quarter-finals.

Badosa's best result in Australia is the 2022 round of 16, and overall in this tournament, she has only won six matches. However, by the end of 2024, she showed signs that she could return to being the player who won Indian Wells in 2021 and was ranked as the second-best player in the world.

She claimed her fourth title in Washington, matched her best Grand Slam result in New York by reaching the quarter-finals, and came close to qualifying for the WTA Finals, with 24 wins and seven losses since Wimbledon.

Without pressure and with the feeling that everything that comes is welcome, having had her career jeopardized by her back, Badosa is the great hope of Spanish women's tennis in 2025.