"Today was horrible, to go through what I did. Nice entrance, nice send-off, and in between is one to forget because you know you have a three per cent chance to win"
Thursday 30 January 2020 14:10, UK
Roger Federer felt he went as far as he could at this year's Australian Open, but branded the experience of losing the semi-final to Novak Djokovic as "horrible".
The 38-year-old went into the last-four encounter with hindered movement due to a groin injury and 12 hours and 44 minutes of court time weighing down on him.
Federer astounded both the crowd and Djokovic by going 5-2 up in the first set before he was clawed back in by the seven-time Australian Open champion.
The Serbian forced the first set into a tie-break and pressed on from there to secure the 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-3 victory.
"At the end of the day, I guess I'm very happy. I've got to be happy with what I achieved," Federer said of the tournament overall.
"It was the maximum to get at this tournament, especially after the Millman and the Sandgren matches.
"Today was horrible, to go through what I did. Nice entrance, nice send-off, and in between is one to forget because you know you have a three per cent chance to win.
"You've got to go for it. You never know," he added.
"But, once you can see it coming, that it's not going to work anymore, it's tough."
Despite his disappointment at his loss, Federer has a positive outlook when it comes to returning to Melbourne Park for next year's Grand Slam.
"You never know what the future holds. But especially at my age," the 38-year-old shared.
I'm confident. I'm happy how I'm feeling. No plans to retire. We'll see how the year goes, how everything is with the family. We'll go from there. Of course, I hope to be back
The holder of six Australian Open titles, and 20 Grand Slam titles overall, also believes that he can add to that tally over the coming months.
"I do believe that [he can win more Slams]. I think by having the year that I had last year, also with what I have in my game and how I'm playing, I do feel that."
The next opportunity to gain that 21st title will be at Roland Garros in May, after he confirmed at the end of last year that he will be playing all four Grand Slams and the Olympics in Tokyo during his 2020 season.
Djokovic - who has never lost at Melbourne Park once he has reached the last four - admitted he was thinking too much about his opponent early on.
"I was trying to focus on myself. I'd been told by the team as well to prioritise my own things rather than really thinking about how he's feeling or how he's going to move, how he's going to play - but it's easier said than done," he said.
"When I was on the court at the beginning, I was really paying too much attention on his movement, what he was really doing. I wasn't in the right balance. I wasn't hitting the ball. I wasn't executing the shots the way I wanted it.
"It resulted with a 4-1 deficit and 0-40. I was just fortunate to serve well at those moments."
It is one of Federer's more extraordinary statistics that in more than 20 years of playing at the top level he has never failed to complete a match.
He revealed he talked with his team about that possibility here and was grateful it did not come to that. Djokovic paid tribute to Federer on court.
"Respect, it's all I can say. I did have retirements throughout my career. I know how it feels when you're hurt on the court," he said.
"I think it's an amazing fact that he has never retired, not a single match, throughout his career. Huge respect for that.
"Obviously he was hurting. You could see it in his movement. Respect to him for trying his best. It's unfortunate that he was not at his best."
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