Australian Open 2012 live stream

On the eve of Australia Day, Serena Williams was walking a tightrope. She is in Melbourne with for the sole purpose of winning a Grand Slam title, and yet here she was, standing in front of a packed crowd – most of whom were proudly Australian – playing Sam Stosur.

And in case anyone had overlooked the fact, Stosur is Australian. What to do?

What she did was impressive; it did little for American-Australian relations, but it was still impressive. Williams steamrolled her way past poor Stosur and headed for the quarter-finals 6-4 6-2. Then, to make amends, she apologised profusely. “I’m sorry, you guys,” she said, looking around at the massed ranks of green and gold. “Sam played really well. But maybe I’ll have a few more fans now.”

Both her public relations efforts and her game plan against the local heroine had been a deliberate ploy on Williams’s part. She knew from experience that partisan spectators do not take kindly to seeing their player beaten and that, having lost to Stosur in their previous meeting, she could not let the Australian get so much as a toehold in the match.

“It's important when you're playing a local girl to not let the crowd get too involved or else they'll kill you,” Williams explained. “That was the plan: to not let them get involved.

“I knew she was capable. She beat me last time and anything can happen. So she's a really, really good player and so dangerous. I was like, you have to be focused when you're playing Sam, for sure.”

Stosur’s biggest mistake had been to beat Williams last summer. The world No.1 is not fond of losing. She particularly dislikes losing at major tournaments, and so she offered Stosur absolutely nothing to work with. There were no weakness, no lapses in concentration and, consequently, no hope for the Queenslander.

The crowd, although disappointed to see the departure of one of their own, took it well. They knew they had seen a champion in championship-winning form. And Williams was right – Stosur had not played badly at all; it was just that Williams had played extremely well.

With 11 Grand Slam cups already stashed away in her trophy cabinet, the world No.1 knows a thing or two about winning major events. The old rule states that no one can win a Grand Slam in the first week, but they can certainly lose one. It is not the performances that matter in the first few rounds, it is the results. But by the start of the second week, the hopefuls have been separated from the contenders, and it is time to step up the pace.

The slight worry for the rest of the field is that Williams was playing exceptionally well in the first week – and now she is getting better in the second. On current form, the champion will take some stopping.

“When someone's playing that aggressively and not giving you anything at all, she's pretty hard to beat,” Stosur said.

“I thought I served well. I thought I stood my ground pretty well during the few rallies that we were able to get into.

“I think she definitely can go all the way. If she plays like that, I can't see too many players being able to stop her.”

Williams could seemingly do no wrong. She dropped just two points on serve in the opening set and just seven in all. Add in 10 aces to that mix and Williams’s serve was all but untouchable. Stosur tried to stay with her from the baseline but Williams was too strong, too aggressive and, quite simply, too good.

If there is a doubt about Williams’s ability to retain her title, is surrounds her fitness. She has been wearing strapping to he right thigh since she arrived in Melbourne, but now she is wearing tape just below he left knee. Williams, though, is three matches away from lifting the trophy, and even if she is standing on one leg and has her arm in a sling, she is not going to let anything stop her.

“I think it's all about adrenaline out there,” she said. “When I step on the court, I feel great. Sometimes before there, I am struggling.”

Unfortunately for the other seven players left in the draw, they are not allowed to play Williams in the locker room and must face her in the public glare of Rod Laver Arena. And out there, Williams is looking invincible.