At the end of 1997, Martina Hingis still was a relatively new phenomenon. Yes, early in the year she won her first Australian Open title. But it was in the year's final Grand Slam, the U.S. Open, that the Swiss Miss became most visible to millions of Americans.

She seemed unstoppable. Simply unbeatable.

At that time, Lindsay Davenport still was a gangly, 6-foot-1 tennis player from southern California with a sweet disposition, plenty of talent, and a little too much extra weight.

Some 2½ years later, Davenport has firmly altered the cycle in their respective place in women's tennis.

Davenport's 6-1, 7-5 defeat of Hingis in Friday night's (Saturday in Australia) Australian Open final was so convincing, it made Hingis' hold on the No. 1 ranking far more tenuous.

There is no shame in that, in and of itself. Hingis and Davenport have shared the No. 1 spot for much of the past two years, and Hingis has owned it for the majority of that time.

However, Davenport is exposing a weakness in Hingis' game, just when it seemed during the'97 run that Hingis had no great weakness.

The weakness is power.

Power is a major part of Davenport's strategy, of course, but these days the thought of power is usually directed toward Venus and Serena Williams. Until recently, though, the Williams sisters were not a real threat to Hingis because they represented power un-harnessed.

Before the Williams sisters became more than just great hard-hitters, Hingis could win matches with her mobility and savvy.

She still can compete with the Williams sisters because their games still tend to be a little inconsistent. Witness the unforced errors that ended the Australian run of Serena Williams, who beat Hingis in last summer's U.S. Open final.

Davenport?

She is another matter. Davenport brings a balance of power and control. Too often -- 10 times in 17 career matches, a high percentage against someone of Hingis' stature -- that combination has overpowered her.

Hingis concedes as much.

Davenport told reporters in Melbourne, "Martina told me after the match, 'I just can't play you.' And it's pretty rare to hear her say that. Definitely, she's intimidated by me, and that's the best compliment you could ever get. It's amazing."

Hingis, 19, should be a fascinating person to watch as her career evolves. It's hard to remember an athlete who presents such a mix of inner resolve and inner frailty.

It has to gall Hingis' more regular victims to see her bounce around the court with that innocent smile, knowing that inside she is usually an ice queen.

Yet there are vulnerable moments, too. Reportedly, Hingis was troubled that her mother and coach, Melanie Molitor, had left in the middle of a disappointing doubles final defeat (with partner Mary Pierce) to Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. The loss ended a 50-match win streak for Hingis at this tournament.

It had to be a great comfort to Davenport to see Hingis wilting in Saturday's Australian sun from frustration.

Remember, Davenport was two points from winning the championship match 6-1, 6-1. She was two points from needing just 40 minutes or so to wipe the world No. 1 off the floor of a Grand Slam she had won for three consecutive years.

Everything the 23-year-old Davenport did seemed to work. Her shots fell deep. They landed at an angle. They put Hingis in one compromising position after another.

As the unforced errors mounted, Hingis would swat the air with her racket. She took to slamming balls off the court at the completion of a point. The crowd appeared to turn on her.

And, then, as Hingis almost always does regardless of how a match is going, she put her opponent on the defensive. When all seemed lost, she put the pressure back on Davenport.

That was an impressive recovery by Hingis to go back on serve, 5-5, in the second set. For some time, she has mastered the art of playing one point at a time.

She knows that the way to avert a blowout is to scrap and work until she has won a set. Then the score is even and the burden shifts entirely.

"I kept looking at the clock and thinking, 'Oh, my God, people had to pay for this,'" Hingis said. "At least I pushed the match to over an hour."

She put Davenport on those ropes, however briefly. But in Davenport's first opportunity to break Hingis after they were back on serve in the second set, Davenport did it without losing a point. Just like that, Davenport had her third Grand Slam title. She is 3-0 in Grand Slam championship matches, with titles from the U.S. Open (1998), Wimbledon ('99) and, now, Australia.

Almost as impressive is the convincing way she owns Hingis. Hingis has not won a set from Davenport in their past four meetings. Davenport ended Hingis' 27-match winning streak in singles at the Australian Open, dating to a quarterfinal loss to Amanda Coetzer in 1996.

Hingis was 15 then.

Now Hingis enters the prime of her career. And she still will compute as No. 1 on the Sanex WTA Tour when the rankings are adjusted on Monday, one spot ahead of Davenport. But Hingis knows her hold on supremacy is fragile.

She is a tremendous tactician. Most of the time, she is brutally tough. Yet she is vulnerable against the player who can mix power with discipline.

It's a vulnerability that exposes a petulant frustration that Hingis would prefer to hide.

No doubt, Hingis will regroup and try to figure out a way to overcome this kind of obstacle. Just observing the process itself will be interesting.