Federer remains philosophical in defeat

Djokovic's four-set final victory over Federer was confirmation of that. The Swiss player had served as well as at any point in his career in his semi-final against Murray; indeed, at 33, he remains a magnificent player, arguably better than he was three or four years ago.

And yet, for all that magnificence, he still cannot add to that stupendous tally of 17 Grand Slams. The last was here three years ago, and it is not at all obvious where the next one might be coming from. Not, at least, when Djokovic is in this sort of form.

During his five-year reign at Wimbledon from 2003, Federer was without peer. In a sense he is still unchallenged, but now as the second best player in the world, not as the top dog.

Of course he has not given up hope of winning more majors - if he had done that, he would surely have given up playing tennis at the same time. But, reflecting on his four-set defeat, he was able to be philosophical about it.

He had played well over the course of the fortnight. He had lost to the world No 1. He could not be content with that situation, but he could comprehend it.

"You know, I still think I had a great tournament," Federer said. "You can have good tournaments without winning at the end. I still won six matches, lost one. The ratio still remains very good.

"But of course you sort of walk away empty€‘handed. For me a finalist trophy is not the same. Everybody knows that. Thankfully I've won here in the past, so it does not feel like I'm chasing anything.

"But clearly I would have loved to win today. There's no doubt about it. But I still think I can be very happy with the level of play. Even today, it was fine.

"I lost against the world No 1 at the moment. That's the kind of guy you probably can lose against. But I'm not going to accept it and say it's normal.

"It's not. I've beaten him a few times. I'm one of the few guys that's gotten a chance. Same with Stan and a few guys that have given Novak a run for the money.

"Clearly I was always going to believe hard today that I was going to come through as the winner, but still always being humble knowing how tough it was going to be. I think I was able to show that on the court today, how close it really was. Even though at the end it might look routine, but I don't think that was the case."

Unlike those athletes who have an instinctive aptitude for their sport without understanding what makes them so good, Federer has always been very conscious of his abilities and how they have ebbed and flowed over the years. Yet even this very self-aware sportsman admitted to having been surprised by just how well he had played over the past two weeks, in which only one player before the final, Sam Groth in the third round, had taken so much as a set off him.

"I was playing better than I was expecting - better than a lot of people were expecting," he continued. "I think I can be proud of what I've done. Unfortunately, I haven't quite achieved what I wanted to achieve.

"The match was very close, especially in the first two sets and at the beginning of the third. In the fourth, I think Novak relaxed a little more, and when he does that, he plays more freely, and he plays better.

"He and Andy are very similar in the way they play, and the match against Andy was perfect preparation for the final. It gave me a lot of confidence, and sometimes that''s what you win on."

If there was a section of the match that fell short of the generally extremely high standard, it was the part of the third set that came after a rain delay, and in which Djokovic regained a one-set lead apparently without too much resistance. Federer had gone a break behind before the rain, but he still thought that if the weather had held for longer he might have had a better chance.

"I think maybe the rain came at a bad time for me. Maybe if it came earlier or much later, it would have been better. The way it was, I couldn't take advantage of it, even though I had a love€‘30 game shortly after I came back.

"But I actually felt fine. It was a little bit of a rushed rain delay. Out, back on. Try to speak to your team, try to relax, at the same time stay warm. It's not like hectic, but it's not the usual rain delay you have. They told us they were going to try to get us back out there as quick as possible.

"Still, at the end of the day,I'm happy we were able to play the finals outdoors, because it is an outdoor tournament, not indoors. Of course the roof is nice to have, but it's perfect conditions playing that way as well outdoors, so it was nice."

Finally, lest his philosophical acceptance of this defeat be taken as any kind of sign of weakness, Federer insisted that he is still hungry for more success. "It's sad to lose," he added. "Of course my aim is to return next year."