Roger Federer made his earliest exit from Wimbledon for eight years but vowed to come back stronger and hungrier than ever.
The six-time champion crashed out 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4 in Wednesday's quarter-finals to world number 13 Tomas Berdych, who will play third seed Novak Djokovic in his first Wimbledon semi-final.
It was only Federer's second defeat at Wimbledon since he went out at the first-round stage to Mario Ancic in 2002. And after also failing to reach the semi-finals at the French Open, Federer has suddenly lost his air of invincibility.
"I can't wait for Paris and Wimbledon to come around next year, that's for sure, because they've been frustrating tournaments for me," said Federer.
However, the Swiss ace has warned his rivals not to write him off, insisting he can regain his position of world domination.
"Yeah, I do think that," he insisted. "That's why I'm here."
Federer had lived dangerously in the first week of Wimbledon, dropping three sets in his first two matches. Although he got his title defence back on track with straight-sets wins over Arnaud Clement and Jurgen Melzer to reach the last eight, there were signs from the opening game against Berdych that all was not well with the six-time champion.
Berdych, who beat Federer in their last meeting in Miami earlier this year, caused all sorts of problems with his powerful serving and sweetly-struck forehand.
He secured the only break of the first set and, after Federer had levelled, tightened his grip by breaking the world number two's serve twice in the third set, leaving the champion to grudgingly admit the better player won.
"I didn't think I played poorly but I think he went after it," Federer said.
"I know Berdych. I've played him 10 times before. He's been able to perform more consistently in the last year or so.
"I had my chances. I don't think I needed to change much.
"But I was just not playing well enough. And when he had to, he was able to come up with some good stuff. But I definitely gave away this match."
Federer also took some of the gloss of Berdych's finest moment by claiming injuries to his back and right knee have affected his performances this fortnight, although he was able to draw some satisfaction from his results.
"Quarters is a decent result," Federer insisted. "Obviously people think quarters is shocking but people would die to play in the quarter-final stages of a Grand Slam.
"It's not something I'm used to doing, losing in quarter-finals.
"Today was a different story than Paris. I couldn't play the way I wanted to play. I have been struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue since the final in Halle.
"You can't concentrate on each and every point because you do feel the pain sometimes. And then you tend to play differently than the way you want to play.
"Under the circumstances I think I played a decent match. But I've been feeling bad for the last two, three matches now. It's just not good and healthy to play under these kind of conditions.
"So if there's anything good about this it's that I'm going to get some rest."
The 24-year-old Berdych, who is the first Czech to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon men's singles since Ivan Lendl 20 years ago, refused to be drawn on Federer's less-than-charitable comments.
"It's just his point of view," he said. "That's what he said and I don't care.
"I just respect him for what he has achieved. He has his reason for what he said and I'll just leave it with him."
Berdych, who is aiming to become the first Czech champion at Wimbledon ince Jan Kodes in 1973, gained self-belief from his run to the semi-finals in Roland Garros earlier this month, according to Federer.
"His semi in Paris definitely helped him," Federer said. "It gave him the belief that he can do well at the big events."
That confidence shone through as Berdych held his nerve to serve out for the biggest victory of his career.
"I would say through all my career matches, this one was the toughest one to close out - against Roger on Centre Court in Wimbledon," Berdych said. "It's pretty tough.
"But I handled it pretty well. I didn't lose it."
Berdych revelled in the standing ovation he received from the Centre Court crowd at the finish and is now hoping for a similar experience on Friday.
"Not many other moments can be compared to this one," he said. "It couldn't be better.
"But still there is one match to have better feelings than this one."