Roger Federer could barely recall where he had been as he celebrated until dawn, but he was soon smiling as that familiar warm feeling of waking up as Wimbledon champion seeped back into his mind on Monday morning.

Federer’s eighth Wimbledon triumph was his most emphatic yet – he is the first player since Bjorn Bjorg in 1976 to do it without the loss of a set.

That he was able to do that, and win the Australian Open in January, and that Rafa Nadal could take his 10th French title last month, has re-ignited the debate about the dearth of challenges to the sport’s “big four”.

Federer said he felt the current complicated points system did not adequately reward some of the younger players for their occasional successes against the big guns on the regular Tour and that it was consequently difficult for them to put together the consistent run of upsets necessary to climb the ladder.

However, he also said some of them needed to show a bit more ambition if they wanted to break the status quo.

Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic have between them taken all the men’s singles titles at Wimbledon since 2003.