As the U.S. Open approaches, Roger Federer — no. 1 in tennis for an unprecedented 185 consecutive weeks and counting — finds himself in an unusual position: He is a king with two legitimate threats to his throne.

Rafael Nadal has gotten the better of Federer more often than not the last few years, and he nearly stopped the four-time defending Wimbledon champion from winning his record-tying fifth straight title last month. Novak Djokovic didn’t give Federer much trouble in their first four meetings, but yesterday he broke through with a fine mix of concentration, bruising ground strokes, and crafty shots, to win 7–6(2), 2–6, 7–6(2) in the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. On the final point of the match, Djokovic drew Federer to the net with a drop shot and sent him racing for the baseline with a volley lob. Federer’s desperate between-the-legs attempt found the net, giving Djokovic his second Masters title this year and a stranglehold on the no. 3 ranking.

The 20-year-old Serb gained early leads in the first and third sets, gave them up, and then outdid Federer in an area where he has rarely been outdone in 2007. Federer, who won this title last year, had a 17–3 record in tiebreakers this season — and had won 13 in a row — before winning a mere four points in his two yesterday. More impressive still, Djokovic won after defeating Andy Roddick on Friday and Nadal on Saturday evening. Since Federer and Nadal have owned the top two spots in tennis, no one has beaten both of them in the same tournament.

As much as Federer will leave Montreal knowing he didn’t play anywhere near his best, he can’t be too much at ease with the young men that are now nipping at his heels. Nadal and Djokovic do not have better all-around skills than Federer, but they both play exceptional defense, they lack notable weaknesses, and they are improving with time. Neither one of them is afraid of Federer, either. Despite not having defeated Federer before, Djokovic knew he could win yesterday’s final. Now that he’s done it, he won’t just believe he can do it again. He’ll expect to.

Tennis and confidence aside, there’s a lot to be said for fresh legs. Pete Sampras won 11 majors before his 27th birthday. He won only three more in his last four years on the tour, largely because of a dominant weapon — his serve. The more versatile Federer may have the best forehand in history, but there’s nothing more useful in tennis than being able to club winners out of one’s own hand during a serve, a skill that Federer lacks. Federer, who turned 26 last week, needs three more major titles to tie Sampras’s all-time record of 14, and though he’ll likely win that many and perhaps a few more, more of those victories will follow scraps such as this year’s five-set Wimbledon final — the most memorable and moving of Federer’s career — than the drubbings of years past.

Though the final result yesterday was noteworthy, much of the tennis that led up to it was not. Both men had awkward moments, as Federer remained uncertain about his backhand after a full month off and Djokovic at times dragged his feet after a taxing victory against Nadal the evening before.

Djokovic won the first three games of the match before Federer gained command of his forehand, which produced six errors in the first two games. But it was Federer who took control of the set a few games later. He broke back, broke again, and led 6–5, 40–0 on his own serve, but couldn’t close it out. The game went to deuce seven times as Djokovic saved six set points in all before breaking Federer, and forcing a tiebreaker, with a forehand winner clocked at 97 mph.

The second set slipped away from Djokovic after he played Federer to 2–2, but he quickly calmed himself to begin the third. Except for the latter part of the second set, Djokovic seemed to know what Federer was going to do before he did it. Anticipation is not guesswork: It’s a skill honed over time, just like forehands and backhands. Djokovic has mastered it at a very young age, and it was uncanny how often he read Federer, returning overheads and gliding into position for passing shots before Federer had finished his stroke.

After Djokovic broke Federer in the opening game of the third set and held his first three service games at love, it looked as if he might run away with the match. He promptly tightened up. Federer, despite losing two more games at love on Djokovic’s serve, was the favorite heading into the final tiebreaker. What a surprise to see him go tumbling down after five consecutiveerrorshandedDjokovic a 6–1 lead. The usually exuberant Djokovic — who seemed to stifle his emotions yesterday out of deference for Federer, who once took Djokovic to task for gamesmanship — dropped to his knees and unfurled a winning smile.

Since becoming no. 1, Federer had, before yesterday, won 12 regular season Masters Series events and lost two, both to Nadal on clay. He hadn’t lost a hard court final of a regular season Masters event in even longer. The last one came in 2002 in Miami, a year before Federer — then 20 years old — had won the first of his 11 major titles. He’s also reached the final of the last nine major tournaments he’s played and won all of them except two (again, both to Nadal on clay), and won three out of the last four season-ending Masters Cup titles. It’s been a remarkable run, one that no one could have predicted or could expect to continue. In the next few years, the man who likely will be remembered as the greatest player in history will have to learn to share.

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Djokovic wasn’t the only Serb in the tennis spotlight yesterday. Ana Ivanovic, this year’s French Open finalist, defeated Nadia Petrova 7–5, 6–4 in the East West Bank Classic in Carson, Calif. She’ll move up to no. 4 in the world this week.

tperrotta@nysun.com