Roger Federer has denied that his loss to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final is still impacting him after losing to Grigor Dimitrov in the US Open quarter-finals.
The Swiss icon was beaten 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 by Dimitrov at Flushing Meadows.
That means his wait for a return to the US Open final will extend into a 12th year, having last contested the tournament’s championship contest back in 2008.
Roger Federer had won all seven of his previous meetings with the Bulgarian but was hampered by an upper back injury this time around.
The 38-year-old required a medical timeout in the fifth set on Arthur Ashe Stadium, reappearing after eight minutes in the locker room.
And world No 78 Dimitrov clinched the final set to shock the world No 3 and make certain that there will be a maiden finalist on Sunday, with Rafael Nadal now the favourite to claim a 19th Grand Slam success.
Federer has now suffered back-to-back crushing losses in Majors, having lost the Wimbledon final in July to Djokovic despite having two championship points in the fifth set.
In the longest final in history at SW19, Federer lost a thrilling five-set clash in a tiebreak to go down to Djokovic in a Wimbledon final for the third time in his career.
But the 20-time Grand Slam champion insists that loss had no bearing on his defeat at the hands of Dimitrov.
Asked if the pain of the Djokovic loss still lingered and had an impact in his US Open exit, Federer said: “I mean, I didn’t think of it.
“If you move on, it’s a thing of the past.
“I do remember playing good semis there, so it wasn’t bad.
“If I think of that, I’m, like, really happy actually how I was able to play the last whatever, 15, 20 sets of the tournament.
“I know people read into it. They think, all that stuff. That is definitely not the reason why I lost tonight.
“I was ready to go, try my best. It wasn’t enough. It’s purely here tonight.”
The 2019 US Open could be the first Grand Slam since the French Open in 2004 that doesn’t feature any of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer in the semi-finals.
That’s after Djokovic lost in the fourth round to Federer’s countryman Stan Wawrinka, the Serbian having also struggled with his fitness.
Nadal meanwhile faces Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the last eight, looking to set up a semi-final clash with either Matteo Berrettini or Gael Monfils.
Asked if it meant anything significant for tennis that only one of the ‘Big Three’ could make the semis, Federer was blunt in his response.
He replied simply: “Not much.”
Federer will return to the tennis court at the Laver Cup in Geneva later on September 20, while he will be back on the ATP Tour at the Shanghai Masters next month.