Australian Open 2012 live stream

The tournament was only an hour old and already we had learned much: Victoria Azarenka is looking rather good as the first grand slam of the year gets under way and Great Britain still does not have a female world-beater to call its own. ‘Twas ever thus.

Azarenka took a swift 67 minutes to dismiss the challenge of Heather Watson 6-1, 6-0 and looked as if she had not broken step since winning the title in Sydney three days before. To sum up the match: Azarenka was very, very good and Watson was out of her depth.

It was a little like watching one of those nature documentaries that David Attenborough does so well. We are shown the cute little field mouse scurrying around in the undergrowth and then, as Mr A whispers into the microphone, we spot the owl flying overhead – all beak, talons and murderous intent. We want to believe that the mouse can escape back to its family but experience tells us that this will not end well for our furry friend.

For a whole game, we thought the mouse had a chance. And then, as Azarenka cranked up the grunt and then, a couple of games later, elongated it into her customary wail, we knew the fur was about to fly.

Now, that is not to say that Watson gave up without a fight. Far from it. The 19-year-old from Guernsey is not a quitter and much as the scoreline would suggest that she took a tonking, Hev (as she is known) did her best to make a fight of it. Since she turned pro in 2009, she has made impressive and steady progress up the rankings and now, ranked No.105 she has set herself the target of a place in the world’s top 50 by the end of the year and a direct entry into the Olympics when it comes to London in the summer. No pressure, then, Hev.

The problem was that Azarenka was just better, more consistent and more accurate in every department. Watson could hit with her when they got stuck into a rally, but she had no idea how to finish the point. After 10 or 11 strokes, the world No.3 would clatter a forehand or angle a backhand and another break would go her way. Then again, with 102 ranking places separating the two women, that is the way match ought to have gone. Watson knew she had been taught a lesson and she was determined to learn from it.

“I actually felt good in the warm-up today,” she said, looking on the bright side. “But I made a lot of unforced errors and Vika played great. I can’t even remember her missing a ball. She really did play well but that’s why she’s number three in the world and I’ve got to put up a bigger fight than that to get close, and I didn’t today. I found I struggled with my serve a bit; I didn’t feel like I had a high first serve percentage. The first game was good and then from there it was just downhill.

“I have a lot of things to improve on and that’s good because I’m here now and if I didn’t have anything to improve on, then how am I supposed to get better? I don’t mind having a first round like that. If I want to be the best, I’ve got to beat everyone and I’ve gained experience from this and, you know, I’m not that upset because I did try my best even though I wasn’t really there today, but there’s always next time.”

Worryingly for Watson – and for all the top women – is that Azarenka is still learning, too. Despite having a host of small injuries last year, she turned in her best season to date, winning three titles and claiming that third spot in the rankings. Now, as the new season lies ahead of her, she thinks she is ready to make her move.

“This [challenging for grand slam finals] is always the goal,” she said. “For me, I'm such a competitor that I always put challenges on myself on the court, off the court, and I try to reach them. I always go step by step. Cannot jump ahead. I think now is a good opportunity.  I feel good playing. But I'm going to take it step by step all the way through.”

And the next step is Casey Dellacqua, the 6-3, 6-2 winner over Bojana Jovanovski.