Hnigis 97 vs Graf 95-96 , who would have won?

[Tombers]

Hingis was so dominant during 97 but could she have handled the Graf of 95-96?

[BTURNER]

Nope, Graf is too fast and too strong. Its a bad match-up no matter how I look at it. she slices relentlessly low and crosscourt to the Hingis backhand and whacks the forehand whenever anything is slightly short or not perfectly placed. Hingis's tactical play depends on opponents who can't get back into position in time. Graf just deprives two-handers of too much court to hit into and her serve is stronger.

[boredone3456]

Hingis was in part so dominant in 1997 because she had little competition. Graf was out of the way, the Williams were still young and green, Davenport was a year shy of becoming a force. Her main Rivals were Novotna, Coetzer, Seles, an aging Vicario baby Venus and Serena, still erratic Lindsay and others who are not really worth naming. She was good, but she was also insanely lucky to have that year. Graf of 95-96 was on a totally different planet from any of those people.

Plus...Graf was to smart to be baited into weakspots. She actually did not have a major weakspot anyway, not one Hingis coulda beaten her at. Grafs forehand alone would torture hingis, her movement then was exceptional(better than in 99). Graf was better in 95 and 96 than hingis in 1997. Hingis would have lost more often than not.