Much has been written about the growing popularity of women's tennis in recent years, and how the men have taken a back seat to the women in the imagination of many, perhaps most, fans. However, one of the themes emerging from the major mixed hard court tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami was how bland and disappointing the women's events were. "How much has changed," wrote Charles Bricker in the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel after the Ericsson Open in Miami. "The men's tournament this year has produced a raft of fascinating matches with a very high level of tennis. The women's tournament produced too many one-sided and sloppy results."

For all the talk about the improved depth on the WTA tour ? and there is no question the women have made progress in this area ? the last month has shown that if a few of the big names are substracted from tournaments the quality of the product suffers.

Already this year, the effects of the retirements of Steffi Graf and Jana Novotna have been felt. Monica Seles, back after a long injury layoff, has shown she can handle the lower-ranked players, but she was dealt two decisive defeats in March by Martina Hingis, including an embarrassing 6-0 6-0 in Miami. Venus Williams has not played since last fall and her father is suggesting she may retire. Serena Williams has been strangely off-form. And Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, while capable of the occasional ex ploit here and there, is unquestionably in decline. Players such as Mary Pierce and Anna Kournikova offer tennis of wavering quality that bespeaks unfulfilled promise. Meanwhile, the up-and-comers like Elena Dementieva, Kim Clijsters, Jelena Dokic and Alexandra Stevenson, perhaps hampered by WTA rules that limit the tournament activity of players in their tender teenage years, have shown potential but do not yet seem ready for prime time.

The retirements, declines and slumps have created a situation where Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis are, for now, outrageously dominating the field and ? with the exception of a gutsy upset bid in the Miami semifinals by Sandrine Testud against Davenport ? are meeting little opposition in their seemingly inevitable march to the finals. This has some observers talking about a Davenport-Hingis rivalry on the scale of the Martina Navratilova-Chris Evert rivalry which dominated the sport for ten years i n the 1970s and 1980s (they played each other in 49 finals during that period).

All well and good, but most fans would probably not want to return to the days when one or two players dominated the tour outrageously and the finalists could almost be penciled in before a tournament started. Presumably this is a temporary situation, and the women's tennis landscape will once again offer a larger group of players capable of contending for important titles, as was the case in 1999, as the next generation gains the experience it needs to compete at the highest level.