Sam Stosur had carried the thoughts of that night for 13 years.
Back in 2006, the then-21-year-old stood pinned to the spot as Chinese duo Yan Zi and Zheng Jie celebrated defeating Stosur and her American partner Lisa Raymond in three pulsating sets 6-2 6-7 (7) 3-6 to win the women's doubles crown in Melbourne.
Stosur was already a Grand Slam winner at that stage, having won with Raymond at Flushing Meadows four months earlier.
She and Raymond had carried the top doubles seeding into the tournament, but they stumbled at the final hurdle.
It hurt even more, with the pair unable to convert championship points in the second set tiebreak.
She wasn't going to miss out this time.
On Friday, a renewed 34-year-old Stosur linked with China's Zhang Shuai to win the crown the Queenslander fell agonisingly short of 13 years earlier.
The second-seeded duo of Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic were met with power and passion in the 6-3 6-4 result.
With the win, Stosur became the first Australian winner of the title since Alicia Molik partnered with Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2005, while it was Shuai's first Grand Slam crown.
MORE: Channel 9 hammered for not televising Stosur and Shuai's doubles trophy presentation
There were nerves, with a double-fault on the pair’s first championship point. However, Stosur just smiled and appreciated that winning feeling.
"You never know if you're going to be in a Grand Slam final ever again," she told reporters.
"When you're in it, you want to do everything you can possible in that moment to make the right decisions and play how you want to play, enjoy it. That's really what we did.
"To now 13 years later be holding this one instead of the runner-up is a really good feeling."
After their loss in Melbourne, Stosur and Raymond got on a roll, winning 18 straight matches and titles in Tokyo, Memphis, Indian Wells and Miami. They also won in Charleston, at Roland-Garros, and the WTA Championships.
After that, for nearly a decade, Stosur carried the mantle as Australia's top-ranked women's singles player. However, with that mantle came local pressure. With local pressure came apprehension. In 17 appearances in the singles draw in Melbourne, she never made it past the fourth round. She hasn't gone past the first round since 2015.
Her remarkable US Open victory over Serena Williams remains Australia's most recent singles Grand Slam crown, but since then, highlights have been few and far between for Stosur.
Since reaching the final at Flushing Meadows in 2011, Stosur has only reached the final eight or better at a major three times - the semis in Paris (2012, 2016) and quarters in New York (2012).
Youth is now catching up to the older heads, with 21-year-old Naomi Osaka to be front and centre in the women's singles final on Saturday night.
For Stosur, the questions kept hitting her after her win on Friday: Will you give up singles to pursue a doubles career?
The former world No.4 is now ranked No.75 in singles, and her best could be behind her - but in celebrating her seventh major title, Stosur was happy to bury her demons and revel in the good times.
"It's exciting for my whole team, everyone that's obviously helped me keep improving, get on court every day," she said.
"Whether you're winning or losing, it doesn't matter, they're with you all the time.
"It's really exciting to see all those people in your team up in the box watching, being really happy.
"To be able to play at home in front of all of them and have success is super exciting. I can feel my phone going off every two seconds at the moment.
"It's great to know that that support's there from everyone that's close to you, but also feeling it from people you don't even know who are happy and excited.
"I was actually thinking this morning, regardless of whether we win or lose, we have to celebrate because it's still a great achievement."
