Novak Djokovic insisted he isn't concerned by the threat of losing his world number one ranking to Andy Murray following his quarter-final defeat at the Paris Masters on Friday.
Djokovic, the record four-time champion in Paris, limped to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) defeat against Marin Cilic to leave Murray two wins away from replacing the Serb who has been on top of the rankings for 122 weeks.
It marked Djokovic's first loss in 15 meetings with Cilic, reflecting his waning dominance in the wake of completing a career Grand Slam at the French Open in June.
"Look, I'm aware that I'm not the only player in the world that wants to win when he gets out on the court," 29-year-old Djokovic told reporters, adding that his current priority wasn't the rankings.
"I have to get to the -- first of all, to that state of mind where I'm able to perform as well as I want to match after match. I was not able to find that level for last couple of months.
"So, for me, again, going back to that, a lot of things are coming out, a lot of things, a lot of emotions went through my mind and body in the last two years with the things that I was blessed to achieve, obviously, and the career Grand Slam this year.
"But it took a lot out of me and it has put some things in perspective and, obviously, raised some questions in which direction I want to go. So I'm in the process at the moment, and it's going to obviously take some time really for me to redefine all these things.
"But I'm still here, and I feel like I'm on the right path. I'm in a better state of mind than I was some time ago. That's all I'm thinking about right now."
The Serb's end-of-year dominance in recent years had seen him sweep three straight titles in Paris and lift an incredible four consecutive Tour finals crowns in London.
And while the 12-time major winner champion won't add to his haul in the French capital, he will have another chance to convince he is far from in decline at the 02 Arena in London next week.
"At a certain point, I had to reach this kind of phase where, you know, I had to reflect and say, okay, I mean, I have played on the highest possible level for that much.
"The drop of form is normal in sports. I'm not too concerned about how the future will go for me.
"You can't always expect to win. In terms of what the future brings to me, that's not in my hands. I'm going to obviously keep playing at this level as long as I feel like that's the right thing for me."
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