He said the right things after failing to capitalise on his chances in going down to world No.1 Roger Federer in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday but surely Nikolay Davydenko has missed his shot at Grand Slam glory.
Some might point to the fact that the Russian has been in hot form in recent months, shocking a hot field to win the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals last year and then downing the world's two leading players Federer and Rafael Nadal earlier this month in Doha.
But the fact remains that Davydenko will be 29 in June and history is against him ever breaking through to win a major, with Andres Gimeno, Andres Gomez, Petr Korda and Goran Ivanisevic the only men in the open era to have taken just such a step beyond their 28th birthdays.
Spaniard Gimeno was an evergreen 34 when he won the 1972 French Open, Ecuadorian Gomez was 30 when he won at Roland Garros in 1990, Czech leftie Korda turned 30 in the days leading up to his Australian Open win in 1998 and Croatian Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001 just a couple of months shy of his own 30th birthday.
Davydenko is undoubtedly one of the best male players going around at present and has been for several years, having reached the quarters four times in six years at Melbourne Park, the semis and quarters twice each at the French Open and the last four twice at the US Open.
But with the grass of Wimbledon not one of his favourite surfaces, with a fourth-round appearance in 2007 his best effort at the All England Club where he has also bowed out five times in the first round from eight attempts, Davydenko's chances appear limited to the other three majors.
The fact that he has been to the semis four times at a Grand Slam and to the last eight on five other occasions without managing one appearance in a decider, in a period when he has been a fixture in the world's top five, doesn't suggest he quite has what it takes to join the list of major winners.
Davydenko joked after the loss to Federer that he doesn't believe he can win the Australian Open anymore but was quick to deny that he believes his chance has passed him by.
"My tennis is better, for sure it's better," he said after the 2-6 6-3 6-0 7-5 loss to Federer.
"I think so, yes, I think I still have chance (to win a major).
"I don't know this year (but) I have good chance (in) Paris (or the) US Open."
But while he's transformed his public image in recent times, becoming much more open with the media, and he told reporters he still thinks he's got what it takes to realise his Grand Slam dream, it's hard to see him ever doing so if his career to date is anything to go by.