MELBOURNE—He's never been so close, but nor has Roger Federer ever been so far away from Pete Sampras's all-time record 14 grand slam titles.
Federer's gut-wrenching 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2 loss to Rafael Nadal in the most compelling Australian Open final seen at Melbourne Park left the Swiss superstar stranded on 13 career majors.
Possibly forever.
With Nadal now unbeaten in his past five starts against his great rival - 13-6 to the good overall - and ruling the world on clay, grass and hard courts, it is hard to imagine where Federer can find another slam.
Now vulnerable on the lawns at Wimbledon and with his five-year hardcourt dominance shattered at Rod Laver Arena, Federer must be dreading the prospect of returning to the clay at Roland Garros, where he took just four games from his Spanish nemesis in last year's French Open final.
Quite simply, Nadal is living rent-free inside Federer's head.
He has the same psychological hold over Federer as Federer has over his predecessor as world No.1, Lleyton Hewitt.
The balance of power has shifted, perhaps irreversibly, from Switzerland to Spain.
Federer was such a nervous wreck on Sunday night his game fell to pieces in the deciding set of what, until then, had been a gripping, fluctuating and high-quality contest.
Then he completely lost it, breaking down after receiving his runner-up trophy.
"Look, I love this game. It means the world to me, so it hurts when you lose," Federer said.
"I definitely played a terrible fifth set. I kind of handed it over to him."
Federer, though, denied the loss hurt more because it left him one shy of Sampras's record haul.
"Honestly, no. It's more like in the first moment you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad," he said.
"Then all of a sudden it overwhelms you. The problem is you can't go in the locker room and just take it easy and take a cold shower.
"You can't. You're stuck out there. It's the worst feeling. I don't know, it's rough."
Federer was left to rue dropping the opening set from 4-2 up and serving at 30-15, then wasting a total of six break-point chances in two games in the third set, including having Nadal love-40 at 4-4.
"I had many chances. I missed them and they cost me dearly," he said.
"This is, sure, one of the matches in my career where I feel like I could have or should have won.
"But you can't go through your whole life as a tennis player taking every victory that's out there.
"You've got to live with those (defeats). But they hurt even more so like if you're that close, like at Wimbledon or like here at the Australian Open.
"That's what's tough about it. But I have no regrets. So it's all right."
Ultimately, Federer felt the serving of both players proved the key to Nadal's victory.
He wished his delivery had been better and lamented Nadal's ability to save so many break points with his wide-angling left-handed serve to his backhand.
"It's a great advantage for him. It's not the first time," Federer said.
"I could just hang in there. I mean, I won a set against Rafa serving, what, 30 per cent first serves. It's makable.
"I have a great second serve. Very reliable normally. I hit some stupid double faults, but that's going to happen in a five-set match usually.
"I tried to kind of get the grip on my serve, but never really found the rhythm, which was a pity. But it happens.
"I have a completely different type of serve than Rafa. He makes sure he gets it in; I try to go and chase the lines.
"So obviously you're always going to miss a few."
Despite Nadal's obvious dominance, Federer still believes he can beat the Spaniard again.
"For sure. I didn't spend four-and-a-half hours out there (not) believing it," he said.
"I fought hard. I think I played well. I'm happy with where my game's at."
