The days when he dominated the Tour are well behind him but he still believes he can win a 21st grand slam titleTime is the enemy of all sportsmen and women, and as
Roger Federer exited the
Australian Open on Thursday night the thought must have crossed his mind that this might just have been his last visit to a tournament he first played in 2000 and first won four years later.
![Roger Federer bows to injury and Djokovic but winning belief remains | Simon Cambers](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/fb0b734c77f2adb08334af2abfa6ae9f1ce6a476/0_74_2498_1499/master/2498.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=b21f48dd9979aec04b12969c85f27c2a)
Champions, though, have short memories when it comes to losses and his 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3 semi-final defeat by
Novak Djokovic is unlikely to linger, especially since his niggling groin injury meant he knew his chances of victory were somewhere between slim and none.