Roger Federer refused to acknowledge his brilliant career is on the decline after failing to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time in 37 attempts.
Centre Court was stunned into silence as the seven-times Wimbledon champion from Switzerland was beaten by unknown Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky in four sets.
Defeat brings to an end a run if 137 matches, stretching back over 36 grand slam tournaments.
But the 31-year-old denied it was the end of an era and said: ‘I still have plans to play for many more years to come.
‘It’s normal that after all of a sudden, after being in the quarter-finals so many times, people feel it is different.
‘It was hyped up so much about me playing Rafa in the quarter-finals and we are both out so there’s a letdown clearly.’
Federer’s fans are mourning the end of the astonishing sequence but he added: ‘It will be okay because I will be okay.
‘I guess it is a great number, I’m very happy about it, I wish it hadn’t ended here today but I don’t think that’s something fans are going to mourn about or myself. It is a great number, I can be proud of it, but I am moving on from here.
‘Right now this is a setback, a disappointment, whatever you want to call it. But overall I think I played great eight months ago at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, I played great at the Australian Open.
‘I have more options now than I did a year ago when I was running around trying to chase down every possible tournament and every point to get back to world No.1.
Maybe that, also with the Olympics last year, took its toll. I don’t know. But overall I think I have been playing actually not so bad.
‘The season is not over here it is only just in the middle. There is still a lot of tennis left and I will, try to have a good end to the season.’
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