Face down on Centre Court after a sinew straining rally that had ended with one of the outstanding winners that Milos Raonic had repeatedly produced in the course of a compelling five set battle, the belief finally sapped out of Roger Federer and into his beloved turf.

Having conceded a break point as a result in what was to prove the fateful game that put the match beyond his reach, he took time to pick himself up then, causing momentary confusion for both the umpire and his opponent, the finest tennis player for whom this arena had ever provided a platform, headed for his chair, explaining that he required medical attention as he did so.

The attention from the physio was brief, but by then no amount of remedial work was going to save the fallen champion and he knew it.

“I don't know yet. I don't even want to know. I just felt not the same afterwards,” he said, when asked what damage had been done as he hit the ground in the forlorn bid to reach that ball.

“Regardless, he played a great breakpoint to get the break. From then on, if I would have been fresh as a daisy or injured it maybe wouldn't matter because he was serving 140 (mph) anyway. I had missed my chances by then."

Perhaps the self-doubt he said was never an issue during his similarly momentous quarter-final battle with Marin Cilic, had actually begun to creep in a little earlier, too, when he made the mistakes that allowed Raonic to break his serve at the end of the fourth set and take it into a decider.

“Something went wrong,” Federer acknowledged.

“I don't know. I can't believe I served a double fault twice. Unexplainable for me really, yeah. Very sad about that and angry at myself because never should I allow him to get out of that set that easily.

“I mean, he deserved it. He earned it at the end, but I helped him so much to get back into that game. I would like to see a breaker because I was the better player for the set.

“Then, you know, I know he's great in breakers and all that, it was always going to be tough, but I would have liked to see him scramble more than that.

“It was a very disappointing half an hour there for me, getting broken at 6-5, getting broken again at 2-1, having the slip. Who knows what happens there, but it was a very disappointing end to the match for me.”

So, too, for many thousands of others in Centre Court, not to mention millions around the world, because ever since the elimination of Novak Djokovic - the man he had been scheduled to meet at this stage - this had looked like the best opportunity since Federer last won at Wimbledon in 2012, for him to extend his haul of Grand Slam titles beyond his current men’s singles record of 17.

At the age of 34 he has already defied time to continue to challenge as repeatedly as he has in the last four years and he remained in that mood, dismissing those who sought to over-read the brief applause he offered to spectators as he headed off court by insisting that he intends to be back in a year’s time.

“This one clearly hurts because I felt I could have had it. So close. It was really so, so close. It clearly hurts,” Federer admitted.

“At the same time I totally overachieved here. The match against Cilic was epic. It was fun to be part of that match.

“The 10 sets I played the last two matches really gives me the belief that I'm much match fit or tougher physically than I thought I was. I never thought I could do this before the tournament started.

“Actually, it's very encouraging for the season, hopefully for the rest of my career. Not that I was worried it was going to end somehow, but I was insecure coming into Wimbledon. I mentioned that a lot beforehand.

“It's been a great run for me here. I just hope with the slip I had in the fifth, I'm going to be fine tomorrow and beyond. Then, is it a three day thing, is it a 24 hour thing or is it more? I don't know at this point. I hope it's not so bad. I walked it off. I was able to finish, but I don't slip a lot, I don't ever fall down.

“It was a different fall for me than I've ever had. With the body that's been playing up this year, I just hope I'm going to be fine. I believe I am, but I'll know more tomorrow when I wake up.”

Either way the sun will come up tomorrow and while it may see Federer pondering whether his last chance has gone, a first great opportunity looms for Raonic, one that his beaten opponent said he deserves not only for this performance but the way he has worked to develop a previously largely one-dimensional game in recent years, but more importantly to get his mindset right.

“I just think he believes it more now and he's clearly evolved as a player in the last two to three years,” Federer reckoned.

Raonic had earned the full respect of his opponent and the 25-year-old said he had shut out the sentiment being directed towards his opponent as they left the corner, preferring to contemplate his own achievement in winning a Grand Slam semi-final at the third attempt.

“I was very self centred at that point. I wasn't really thinking about Roger. I was very focused on myself, proud of the way I was able to pull through that match,” he said.

He was entirely within his rights to see it that way but in time he will come to understand that it was correct to place most of the attention on Federer this time, if only just in case. Raonic may yet have a lot more to say about what happens at this particular championship.