[Jennifer North]

and yet another slap on the face of those who still believe on the tour's "increased" depth and that the playing level has improved since 2003...

 

[Knizzle]

The tour is deeper, but the playing level has definitely gone down.

 

[croat123]

the tour is deeper because the playing level has gone down

 

[Geisha]

The tour is deeper, but the playing level has definitely gone down.

Very true. If there were no consistent injuries on the WTATour, Venus, Serena, Kim, and Justine would be at the top of the rankings. Hingis and Davenport would be in the Top Ten and would still contend for titles, but they wouldn't be dominating.

But, with that said, Hingis of '01 would not be able to compete with the Hingis of '06. She has gotten better and better with each match played, so...

 

[RJWCapriati]

The way things are going I believe she could finish #1.

 

[fammmmedspin]

Very true. If there were no consistent injuries on the WTATour, Venus, Serena, Kim, and Justine would be at the top of the rankings. Hingis and Davenport would be in the Top Ten and would still contend for titles, but they wouldn't be dominating.

But, with that said, Hingis of '01 would not be able to compete with the Hingis of '06. She has gotten better and better with each match played, so...

Look at it the other way though - could Serena and Venus sustain their level without damaging themselves or stay ahead of a tour that got used to them and sustain their own interest? Could Kim and Justine do what Hingis did for 4 years playing a similar style with more power consistently and piling up wins without badly damaging themselves?

Did they just happened to get consistent injuries - or is it that their playing styles are self limiting? If its likely to happen anyway there is no reason to suppose that a new Hingis would be any less successful now than the old one was. Weeks at number 1 may tell us more than some think.