Hey Leena,
Actually Courier used to also give Edberg plenty of problems "back in the day" with his "baseball swing" backhand...
I DID see that Dubai match, and I also saw Rafter absolutely BUSHWHACK Jim 6/3,6/2 in the semis of another Champion's tourney by playing what...you guessed it..serve & volley tennis!!

(Uhh...he was coming in on Jim's "better" backhand")
Pete AND Courier BOTH used the Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 back then, and they BOTH use Wilsons now...
Courier uses the Ncode Tour 90 and Pete uses the K pro Staff 88...
I used to own and hit with both the Pro Staff 6.0 and the N code Tour 90, and as I now use the K factor Tour 90, I can tell you from experience that there's not a hell of a lot of difference between 'em in terms of swing weight and power...
While Pete's topspin backhand is a BIT stronger than the "old" days, I'd hesitate to call it a "weapon" even at that level, as he still "shanks" quite a few of 'em...(incidently, Pete's stick was WAY heavier than mine, and his new racquet is 12.3 oz. unstrung and STILL he uses extra lead on it!!)
I guess what I'm getting at is that those sticks that they were using back then weren't so much different from what's being used on the World Tour now, which gives weight to the argument of "court surface speed" being more of a major factor in today's tennis than just racquet technology...(even if Johnny Mac still harps on about it...heck HE never really HIT the ball anyway

)