MIAMI — What do these eight men have in common: Paul Haarhuis, Brett Stevens, Grant Stafford, Carlos Costa, Karim Alami, Jacco Eltingh, Jaime Yzaga, and Bernd Karbacher? Lots, you might say. Each one was a “journeyman,” the favorite word in tennis parlance for an average Joe, a decent but not great player. None won a major title. None gained much recognition outside of his home country or the realm of avid tennis fans. There is one accomplishment, however, that all of these men share: Each one beat Pete Sampras when he was the no. 1 player in the world for two straight years from April 1993 to April 1995.

This is no insult to Sampras, who regained the no. 1 ranking several more times and concluded his career with a record 14 major titles. Rather, it’s a compliment to Roger Federer, who until recently had much of the tennis world convinced that it was indeed possible for someone to win all the time. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami this week, Federer, who defeated Gaël Monfils in his first match this weekend, tries again for his first title of the season as two of the game’s finest young stars, Serbians Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, learn what Sampras and Federer have learned before them. Djokovic, last week’s champion in Indian Wells and the man who bounced Federer out of the Australian Open in January, lost in the second round to Kevin Anderson, a qualifier, this weekend after receiving a bye in the first round. Ivanovic, who lived up to her top seed at Indian Wells and won the event, yesterday took a beating from 31-year-old Lindsay Davenport, 6–4, 6–2.

Djokovic’s loss was a crucial one. The 21-year-old Serb has immense talent, and we might not see his best tennis until a few years from now (a moderately frightening thought considering his performances this year and last). His loss to Anderson, though, emphasizes that he’s not comfortable with the expectations and pressures associated with being not just a favorite, but the favorite to win almost every match. Djokovic led the 6-foot-7-inch Anderson, who grew up in South Africa and recently left the University of Illinois after his junior year, 2–0 in the third set when chair umpire Norm Chryst warned Djokovic about wasting too much time between points (he is a habitual ball bouncer who could be called for time violations on most points). Djokovic won the next point but dropped 13 in a row after that and admitted to being rattled by the call and the crowd.

Djokovic’s defeat helps Federer not only in Miami but for the rest of the season, too. Most observers, including yours truly, expect Djokovic to become the no. 1 player in the world one day, and to keep that ranking for a long while. It’s now a lot less likely that it will happen this year. Djokovic won the Ericsson title last year, so his early loss wipes a lot of points from his total. Federer played poorly here last year and has few points to defend, so he’ll likely gain more ground. Djokovic also has a considerable number of ranking points to defend at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open (semifinals at the first two and final at the third), so he’ll have to do as well or better in those events and hope for Federer to drop off by a lot (perhaps lose early at a major and not win any of them) to have a chance at no. 1 before the year is out. It’s an unlikely scenario.

Ivanovic, now ranked no. 2, has a better chance than Djokovic to reach no. 1 this year — she might even do it without first winning a major title. If the last six months are any indication, she will win one; it’s just a matter of when.

Women’s tennis has had dozens of champions who burst onto the scene and won titles at young ages (Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, and Maria Sharapova, to name a few of the more recent ones — it’s a long list). Ivanovic is a different sort, the kind who is fond of the slow, steady ascent. It’s remarkable how much she has improved in the last three years. She’s no longer as erratic. She’s in much better shape and much quicker on her feet. She practices and trains diligently. When she stumbles, as she did yesterday, she seems to put it aside instantaneously. Her respectable performance in the Australian Open final this year was far better than her nervous outing in the French Open final last year, and she’ll do better still in the future, if only because her chief rivals — Sharapova, Justine Henin, and the Williams sisters — lack durability or are aging.

By not winning Miami this week, Djokovic and Ivanovic will have to wait another year to join an elite club in tennis. Only two women have won Indian Wells and Miami back to back: Steffi Graf (she did it twice) and Kim Clijsters. Six men have won the spring hard-court double: Federer (twice), Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Michael Chang, and Marcelo Rios.

Mr. Perrotta is a senior editor at Tennis magazine. He can be reached at tperrotta@tennismagazine.com.