Novak Djokovic remained confident that his semi-final defeat to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon would not be the last time he steps out at the All England Club.
Djokovic's hopes of a record-extending 25th grand slam title were dashed on Friday after a 6-3 6-3 6-4 defeat to world number one Sinner.
At times during the match, Djokovic was unable to match the power and pace of Sinner, but he did take a 3-0 lead in the third set before the Italian went through the gears.
Sinner is the first player to win nine consecutive sets against Djokovic, surpassing the previous record held by Roger Federer (eight, between Monte-Carlo 2006 and Dubai 2007).
The defeat means the 38-year-old will not play in the showpiece match in SW19 for the first time since 2018, but Djokovic was confident of returning to Wimbledon next year.
"Hopefully it's not my last match on the Centre Court," Djokovic said. "I'm not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today.
"So I'm planning to come back definitely at least one more time, play on the Centre Court, for sure."
Djokovic has reached the semi-finals of all three grand slam events this year, losing to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open and Sinner at Roland-Garros.
Sinner's victory means he will play Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday's final in what will be a repeat of their French Open epic last month.
Indeed, Sinner and Alcaraz are just the second pair in the Open Era to meet in the men's singles final at Wimbledon and Roland-Garros in a season, after Federer and Rafael Nadal (2006-08).
It is a new rivalry that has formed in the sport, with the duo winning the last seven majors between them, and Djokovic conceded it's tough to recover and go again in the latter stages of slams against younger players.
"It's tough for me to accept because I feel like when I'm fit, I can still play really good tennis. I've proven that this year," Djokovic added.
"Playing best-of-five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. The longer the tournament goes, the worse the condition gets.
"I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz. These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I'm going into the match with the tank half-empty.
"It's just not possible to win a match like that."
But despite those concerns, Djokovic remained confident in his ability to compete at grand slams, with all eyes on the US Open, a title he has won four times in his career.
"I've put in everything I possibly can when it comes to training and preparing myself so I can play my best at grand slams," Djokovic said.
"I think, regardless of the fact that I haven't won a grand slam this year, or last year, I still feel like I continue to play my best tennis at grand slams.
"Those are the tournaments that I care about at this stage of my career the most."
