Former Wimbledon doubles champion Mark Woodforde has paid homage to Lleyton Hewitt, who waved goodbye to the tournament today.

The 2002 champion lost in a marathon five-set contest to Jarkko Nieminen, in what was his last appearance in the Grand Slam, and was given a standing ovation as he left the court.

Woodforde told BBC Sport: "Lleyton Hewitt has been one of the great players in men's tennis, and has gone down in the folklore of Australian tennis. This is a sad end to his Wimbledon singles career."

He added: "He's 34 and has played in 17 Wimbledon tournaments, and I can remember him beating me as a 16-year-old, but it's a sad moment to watch him play in this manner as I've seen him play so strongly and with such heart, but over the last six months he's gone downhill and it's not nice to see champions playing at that level.

"At the end of this season he'll have a lot more time on his hands, and I'm sure he'll be heavily involved in Australian tennis in the future."

Hewitt is set to retire after the Australian Open in January.