Goran Ivanisevic bowed out of men's professional tennis after a 6-2 6-3 6-4 defeat by Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the third round at Wimbledon.
Bidding farewell on the same Centre Court where he won the Wimbledon crown in 2001, the 32-year-old Croatian had no answer to seventh-seed Hewitt's dynamism in a one-sided encounter today.
Ivanisevic won a permanent place in the hearts of the Wimbledon crowd with his emotional triumph three years ago but he has struggled with injuries since and had vowed to retire after this year's tournament.
Hewitt, who fittingly succeeded Ivanisevic as Wimbledon champion in 2002, faces Spanish ninth seed Carlos Moya in the fourth round.
Another crowd favourite, Britain's Greg Rusedski, also bowed out today after he lost to eighth seed Rainer Schuettler of Germmany in five sets. Schuettler won 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 2-6.
Tenth seed Sebastien Grosjean, of France, beat Jan-Michael Gambill, of the United States in three sets, winning 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-2.