One had the sense that Roger Federer was due for a defeat like this one.

After a long vacation following Wimbledon, the world no. 1 took home yet another title in Toronto last week, but he labored through his last four matches, going the distance in each of them. It was a taxing tournament, followed by a flight to Cincinnati on Monday, an evening match on Tuesday (and a poor one at that), and then another tussle yesterday afternoon.

Even for a near immortal like Federer, this was a recipe for failure. At the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati yesterday, 19-year-old Andy Murray was happy to take advantage of a master who was far from his best, scoring a 7–5, 6–4 victory in what must rank as the most important upset of his young career.

The loss ended several remarkable streaks for Federer. He had won his last 55 matches in North America since losing to Dominik Hrbaty in Cincinnati two years ago.In the last two years, his record on hard courts was 85–2.He had reached the finals in his last 17 tournaments, one shy of Ivan Lendl’s record of 18 set in 1981–82. Federer won 12 of those 17 titles, losing four to Rafael Nadal and the other to David Nalbandian. He had not lost in straight sets in 194 matches, dating back to the 2004 French Open.

Federer said he felt no disappointment in witnessing the end of his winning ways. It would be a relief to move on.

“I’m not disappointed,” he said. “There’s no reason to be. It was an incredible run. You always expect a loss once in a while, so when it happens, why be disappointed?”

Calm off court, Federer showed some disgust on it. As he plodded through the first set, missing half of his first serves, too many forehands, and a few volleys that could hardly be called challenging, his frustration got the better of him. After slicing a routine backhand into the net to give Murray a break point at 5–5, Federer turned and walloped a ball out of the stadium, eliciting a warning from the chair umpire. He double faulted to lose the game, his fourth break of the set and the second that ended on a double fault.

When a dominant player is off his game, Murray is just the sort of opponent he does not want to see across the net. The Scot has his lapses, but when he is playing well, most points won against him must be earned. He returns serve exceptionally well, and compensates for a lack of power and foot speed with sharp angles, good footwork, and an impeccable sense of which parts of the court to cover and when.

Murray also has a knack for upsets, having beaten Andy Roddick at Wimbledon and, earlier in the year, Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt on his way to the hard-court title in San Jose. It’s this toughness against difficult opponents that Murray’s new coach, Brad Gilbert, must admire most (one can only imagine what this victory will do for Gilbert’s sparkling credentials as a tutor of top talent; British tennis officials might give him a million-dollar bonus).

Murray did not close out the match without a few hiccups. After breaking for 4–3, he berated himself as Federer broke right back. He showed poise in the next game, however, recovering from a 30–0 deficit and eventually breaking with a backhand winner down the line and a forehand shank from Federer. Murray served out the match, losing just one point and ending it with another of his backhand passing shots. He covered his face but could not mask his disbelief.

Murray admitted that Federer had not played his best, and that he was in shock at having won a match he did not expect to win. But to his credit, and without much ego, he pointed out that poor play, by Federer’s standard, usually does not stop the world no. 1 from winning.This was Federer’s fifth loss of the entire season, and his first to someone not named Nadal.

“The most important thing against Roger is not to try and overplay, because you can get that feeling where he’s so good — you don’t want to give him the chance to go for it so you play stupid shots,” Murray said.

James Blake would do well to adopt the Murray philosophy.The top-ranked American could not snap out of his mid-summer malaise yesterday, losing to Juan Carlos Ferrero — remember him? — 6–2, 6–4 in the second round in Cincinnati. Ferrero, the French Open champion and U.S. Open finalist in 2003, and former world no. 1, had not defeated a player ranked inside the top 25 all season (0–7) and his overall record is now 24–17. His best showing so far was a semifinal appearance on clay in Argentina early in the year.

For Blake, it was a dreadful performance against an opponent who should not trouble him on hard courts. He held his first service game after falling behind 0–40,then lost the second one after falling behind 15–40. His first serve could not find the box, and Ferrero pummeled most of his second offerings. From the baseline, Blake often missed wildly or into the middle of the net, and his normally nimble feet looked sluggish. He did not attack the net as often as usual, either.

Blake served better to begin the second set before double faulting on break point at 2–2. It was the only break Ferrero needed.

In other matches yesterday, Rafael Nadal moved into the third round with his second victory over Hyung-Taik Lee in two weeks, 6–4, 6–3. American Robby Ginepri scored his first quality win in months, defeating Dmitry Tursunov 6–3, 6–4. And Andy Roddick defeated Kristof Vliegen 6–4, 6–4.

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USTA GIVES WILLIAMS WILD CARD The United States Tennis Association yesterday announced its slate of wild cards for the women’s field at the U.S. Open. Leading the pack was Serena Williams, whose ranking was 139 at the U.S. Open entry deadline.The other women were Chanda Rubin, Alicia Molik of Australia, and several young Americans: Lauren Albanese, Alexa Glatch, Jessica Kirkland, Bethanie Mattek, and Ahsha Rolle.

tperrotta@nysun.com