Taking a Sudden Human Interest

That a frustrated-looking Roger Federer lost for the first time after 55 consecutive hard-court victories has not turned the tennis world upside down or sent a seismic shock through the sport.

Nor has it made the answer to this straightforward question any easier: If not Federer, who?

“To win here?” asked fifth-seeded James Blake at a pre-U.S. Open interview Saturday.

Yes. Other than Blake, of course.

“I would love it to be me, but I understand there’s 127 other guys who would love to say them too,” said Blake, who happens to be in the same quarter of the draw as Federer. “... Sentimentally, I would love to say Andre as well. Then rationally, I’d probably say Andy.”

That would be Andre Agassi, who will be playing his final professional tournament, and Andy Roddick, the resurgent winner at Cincinnati who will try to dismiss the demons of last year’s first-round loss here to Gilles Muller. Agassi will play Andrei Pavel in the first round tonight, after a ceremony honoring the naming of the National Tennis Center after legend Billie Jean King.

But Federer’s loss to Andy Murray of Scotland this month in the second round at Cincinnati has hardly altered conventional wisdom: The Swiss player is the prohibitive favorite to win his third consecutive U.S. Open, which would put him in the company of John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl.

The one thing Federer’s loss did was elevate the 19-year-old Murray in betting shops across the pond, as one service listed him as the fourth favorite behind Federer, Rafael Nadal and Roddick.

“I think most of us figure it to be an aberration. [Federer] had one bad match. He’s human, great,” Blake said, smiling. “It buoys our confidence in the fact he might not make the finals every single week, only 17 in a row, which is pretty poor.”

Blake, still smiling, added, “I mean, he’s doing incredible. But I think we all know that’s probably not his best tennis when he’s losing, Andy Murray is a very talented player. Young and getting better and better.”

Murray almost always leads the list of possible breakout stars of his generation. He plays American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the first round here and garners sizable attention for three reasons. One, he holds two wins against Roddick and one against Federer in 2006. Two, his recent coaching partnership with media magnet Brad Gilbert. And lastly, the large and intrepid media contingent following his every move.

Certainly Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, 20, and Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 19, don’t have their moves scrutinized as closely by the media from week to week, unless it’s British reporters asking Djokovic if he might eventually play for Britain.

Djokovic won his first ATP tour title this year; Berdych has two career titles and also owns victories against Nadal and Federer, beating the latter at the 2004 Olympics. The most versatile of the youngsters may be 20-year-old Richard Gasquet of France, who has three career titles, two on grass and one on clay.

“Maybe one of these young guys -- whether it’s either Richard Gasquet, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray or this Berdych guy, one of these four guys is going to be, in a year or two, one of the best players, at the top of the game,” McEnroe, now a TV commentator, said.

“[Gael] Monfils is another guy with some personality. There’s a couple of young 18-, 19-years-olds and [Marcos] Baghdatis, actually, if he could make a step, and we could find a way to bring these guys into the mix, so it just wouldn’t be the two of them.”

The two are Federer and Nadal, the rivalry dominating men’s tennis. They’ve met in two Grand Slam finals this year, Nadal winning the French Open, and Federer taking Wimbledon four weeks later.

There is no dominant, Federer-like figure on the women’s side -- that was once Serena Williams, now a wild-card entrant -- much less a Federer-Nadal-type rivalry. The top women are not playing enough to create a viable one, mostly because of injuries and, at times, an apparent lack of interest.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium is out because of an injured left wrist, as is Venus Williams. The two arriving in New York with momentum are No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne, winner in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday, and No. 3 Maria Sharapova, the winner at Carlsbad on Aug. 6. Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo will be attempting to win her third major of the year.

Sharapova and Henin-Hardenne are in opposite sides of the draw and could meet in the final. Their match in the Australian Open semifinals was one of the best of 2006, with Henin-Hardenne winning in three sets.

Another former Open champion, Lindsay Davenport of Laguna Beach, is in the same quarter of the draw as Henin-Hardenne, but she may not even reach the starting line today against Klara Koukalova Zakopalova because of an injured right shoulder.

Davenport experienced problems with the shoulder in her semifinal match at New Haven, and was forced to retire in the final against Henin-Hardenne.

She had wanted a later start at the Open, but her half of the draw is playing today. Her agent said she intended to take Sunday off and “hoped” to be able to play today.