Isn't it funny how blinded by parochialism we can be when following our sportsmen and women in action around the world? How blinkered by our bias that we often can't see the flashing, code-red danger signs?

Take, for example, tonight's third-round women's Australian Open match between our very own Sam Stosur and, oh, gosh, what was her name - one of those eastern European players whose name ends in 'ova'? Ah yes, that's it, Petra Kvitova. (Or, hang on, was it Nadia Petrova?)

Anyway, standing over the net from Kvitova, and soaking up the rapturous applause from Rod Laver Arena, was the gleaming golden figure of our Sam, Queensland's finest and, don't you know, the world's sixth-ranked player.

There were one or two newspaper reports about how Kvitova represented a 'dangerous' challenge to Stosur but, really, the centre-court crowd - and just about everyone else with a passing interest in the sport - was there to witness an Aussie cakewalk into the fourth round.

Perhaps another French Open performance loomed - only this time our Sam would go one better than her 2010 final appearance and take out her first Grand Slam.

It didn't take long before those who arrived with such high hopes began shifting slightly uneasily in their seats. With Stosur serving, the Czech rifled a backhand down the line for a scorching winner off the very first point of the match.

Stosur then faced a succession of break points on her serve as the mercurial Kvitova lashed winners all over the court. The Australian went down an early break but then bravely fought back to bring on a tie-breaker.

And when she led 5-3, it seemed Stosur was well on the way to that much-anticipated fourth-round appointment. But then the Czech reeled off the next four points to take the set 7-6 (7-5).  Her spirit broken, Stosur then lost the second set, 3-6. 

Keen followers of the women's scene would not have been overly surprised by the turn of events. They would have told you what a talent Kvitova was. How, at 20 - and standing 187cms, with the wingspan of a giant albatross - she was destined for big things. 

But the local press was more concerned with talking up Stosur's chances of becoming the first Australian woman since Chris O'Neill in 1978 to win the local slam, than they were in giving any forensic analysis of Kvitova's qualities. 

At Wimbledon last year, for example, the Czech defeated Sorana Cîrstea in the first round and then upset 23rd seed Zheng Jie 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 and 14th seed Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-0 in the third.

Warming to her task, Kvitova demolished top seed (and now women's world No.1) Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round - 6-2 6-0, if you don't mind - to advance to her first Grand Slam quarter-final, where she beat Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 7-6, 8-6 after saving five match points and coming back from a double-break down (she was 4-0 down at one stage) in the third set, proving she had ticker as well as a big game.

That won her a berth in the Wimbledon semi-finals, this slightly gawky stripling from Fulnek in the Czech Republic, where she lost on centre court to defending champion Serena Williams in straight sets, 7-6(5), 6-2.

Anyone who watched that match will understand that the scoreline was not really an accurate reflection of the tightness of the contest. Kvitova more than matched the firepower of Williams, occasionally blasting balls by the bemused world No.1. Were it not for a couple of close calls in the tie-break, she could easily have taken a set lead. 

In the lead-up to the Australian Open, the Czech started 2011 by winning her second career title at the Brisbane International, defeating Andrea Petkovic 6-1, 6-3 in the final (having beaten third seed Nadia Petrova and fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova). With the win, she achieved a career-high world ranking of 28th.

For Team Stosur, the danger signs should have been flashing, and alarm bells blaring. Especially given that Kvitova was yet to drop a set in her first two outings in the tournament. Here was the most dangerous third-round floater since Jaws.

Kvitova went on to blast 35 winners to Stosur's 11, and continually had the Australian on the defensive with her big first serve. The quality, and power, in her groundstrokes was often breathtaking.

Just another anonymous eastern-bloc 'ova' before the match, Petra Kvitova might soon be a name that no-one forgets.