The truth can be brutal. Barely 100 minutes after his heart was broken at 4.37pm on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic was utterly unsparing as he listed the reasons for his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.

“I was inferior on the court,” he said of the Spaniard’s 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) successful defence of the Wimbledon crown. “Carlos was the better player from the beginning till the end. He played every single shot better than I did.

“Last year I lost an epic five-set match where we went toe to toe. This year it was nothing like that – it was all about him. He was the dominant force on the court and deserved to win.

“The first game set the tone. I think he was coming out from the blocks ready to battle and play his best level right away, which wasn't the case last year where I started better, had a comfortable first-set win. Today from the first point, he was there, he was ready.

“He was just better than me in every aspect of the game: in movement, in the way he was just striking the ball beautifully, serving great, everything. It’s a bitter taste to lose the final the way I did today.”

These post-final press conferences, where the runner-up reflects on the match, can be many things – tearful, philosophical, heart-wrenching, upbeat. On this occasion the seven-time champion adopted a briskly factual tone, as if none of it hurt, when the sting must have been savage.

It’s the hope that kills, and Djokovic had invested a lorryload of it in his campaign this Fortnight. After surgery on his right knee just 39 days before this final, he prayed he could somehow play through the post-operative period to achieve his eighth Wimbledon title and his 25th Grand Slam. It wasn’t to be.

“Of course my preparation wasn’t normal. There was hindrance obviously because of the injury. I had to create a hybrid programme of training between the rehab, specific exercises for the knee, and the actual fitness training and tennis.

“That had an effect, particularly in the opening rounds. Some matches I battled my way through. As the tournament progressed I felt better and better. But today, from the very beginning, you could see he was at least half a step better than I am in every way.”

It was noticeable during the on-court presentation ceremony that Djokovic concluded his thanks to his team with the words: “Let’s keep it going.” His ambition remains unwavering, apparently.

The Olympic Games start in two weeks at Roland-Garros in Paris, where he hopes to secure the singles gold medal which has always eluded him; and then the defence of his US Open title after that.

“I'm hoping I can be at my best in those two tournaments,” he said. “Hopefully have a chance to fight for a medal for my country. But I’m going to have to play much better than I did today. Both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are the best this year by far. I feel like I'm not at that level.

“I'm going to work on it. It's not something I haven't experienced before. In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger. That's what I'm going to do.

“Let’s see how I feel physically and mentally. Hopefully I can find the right tennis because I'm going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games.

“As for coming back here, I would love to. I don't have it in my thoughts right now that this is my last Wimbledon. I don't have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going, as long as I feel like I can play on this high level.”

But which high level? The level that earned Djokovic seven Wimbledon titles? Or the level of the 2024 final – “inferior”, by his own ruthless assessment? Time will tell.