Australian Open 2012 live stream

The players know it is expected and while sharing their thoughts never gets any easier after finishing up on the wrong side of the scoreboard, they accept it comes with the territory.

For some, the dejection in their voice is palpable – be it thinly veiled sarcasm, all out frustration, or down-to-earth heartache. Others bottle up the emotions and admit the disappointment will hit them like a tonne of bricks a few days later when they have the chance to dissect the loss with those closest to them.

As the women’s singles draws to its finale, we take a look at some of the more notable parting thoughts from the tournament’s hopefuls.

The enormity of defeat hits harder for some, especially for those with the weight of a nation resting on their shoulders in a home Grand Slam tournament.

US Open champion Sam Stosur’s shock boilover in the first round raised further questions about her ability to handle the pressure at home, but the level-headed Aussie was honest and rational in the aftermath.

“I'm probably very close to crying, having a really awful night.  But, you know, I think you feel what you feel, whether it's good or bad.  It's hard to suppress those emotions when it means so much to you,” Stosur said of the night ahead after her exit.

“Yeah, there's not any other word for it but a total disappointment. I know that everyone was behind me.  It's more disappointing obviously that I don't get another chance to step out on court.”

Asked how she would answer her fans following disappointing early exits in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, Stosur made it clear what her home Grand Slam campaign meant to her.

“Of course, I wanted to do very well here.  You want it to come right now.  I'm thankful that everyone was behind me.  I'm sure they will stay behind me,” she said. “That's sport.  Unfortunately you can't pick and choose when it's all going to happen for you.”

For Caroline Wozniacki, Australian Open 2012 was the chance to silence her critics of the past two years, but after a quarterfinal upset to defending champion Kim Clijsters, Grand Slam glory would elude her once more and this time, the world No.1 ranking would vanish with it.

“You know, to be honest, I don't really think about it.  I have been there for a long time already.  I finished No.1 two years in a row … I will get it back eventually, so I'm not worried,” Wozniacki said afterwards of the top ranking.

“I mean, I start laughing every time because the media talks to me like I'm finishing my career and I only have one year left and time is running out. The fact is I still have quite a few good years in front of me.”

When faced with the question of shrieking players sending the decibels through the roof on Rod Laver Arena, Agnieszka Radwanska carefully sidestepped criticising her friend-in-question and quarterfinal conqueror, Victoria Azarenka, instead taking her frustration out on another notorious noise-maker.

“To be honest, I'm kind of used to it [the shrieking], you know, especially with Vika.  We know each other for many years,” Radwanska said.

“About Maria [Sharapova], I mean, what can I say?  For sure that is pretty annoying and it's just too loud.”

While only one win away from avoiding a post-match losing interview at these championships, Sharapova was quick to return fire earlier in the week when told of Radwanska’s gripe.

“Isn’t she back in Poland already?” she quipped, hammering home Radwanska’s standing in the tournament.

“When did she get a chance to say that?

[After she lost her quarterfinal].

“She lost the match?”

Sharapova’s fourth-round victim, German Sabine Lisicki, chose to focus on the positives of her loss, putting her improvement on last year in perspective.

“I mean, one year ago I was in the quallies here.  Now I was so close to beating one of the best players in the world,” she said. “It's been amazing, you know, to feel the crowd behind me.  It's been so much fun.”

Win or lose, the ever-unpredictable Serena Williams is sure to throw in a curve-ball, provided she is up for the chat. Often a cap drawn down over her eyes and a few mumbling replies are enough to sum up her loss. Not so this time.

“Am I usually angry?  I don't know.  Crying?  I don't cry.  So I don't know what I usually project,” she said after a shock fourth-round upset to Ekaterina Makarova.

She was a little more forthcoming in explaining what went wrong.

“I served horrendous. That’s one of the 50 things,” she said. “My lefty serve is actually better than that.  Maybe I should have started serving lefty.”

The hugely popular Clijsters, playing in her final Australian Open, was playing on borrowed time having staved off match points in the fourth round. After Azarenka ended her title defense in the semifinals, the disappointed Belgian conceded it was not all bad.

“I'm sure there's going to be a couple of little things that we're not going to be too sad about that we won't miss with the family,” she said of her impending retirement. “But tennis will always be a great part of my life.  It's given me so many great memories and emotional rollercoasters.  I don't think you can experience that again in any other thing in life, maybe except giving birth.”

Aussie favourite Jelena Dokic was equally realistic about her second-round defeat, having played a limited schedule last year.

“I mean, it's not the end of the world.  At the end of the day, it's just a tennis match,” she said. “Yeah, but even saying that, you have to move on.  It's done.  You look forward to tomorrow.”

With a Grand Slam crown and the No.1 ranking on the line tomorrow, try suggesting “at the end of the day, it's just a tennis match” to Azarenka or Sharapova should they be clutching the runners-up plate.

One will deliver the most daunting post-match speech of the tournament – fresh from defeat on the grand stage of Rod Laver Arena.