Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt of Australia gestures to the crowd as he leaves the court after losing his match against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, June 29, 2015. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Two-time grand slam champion Lleyton Hewitt failed to come through in his last singles match at the Wimbledon Championships. Hewitt lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the men’s singles event at the All England Club 3-6 6-3 4-6 6-0 11-9.

Hewitt, who revealed his plans to retire after the Australian Open next year, was playing for his 44th match in a grand slam tennis event. He took the first set 6-3, but the 33-year-old left-handed Finnish player fought back to win the second. Hewitt was determined not to give up the match easily and claimed the third set before Nieminen, whose best Wimbledon finish was a quarterfinal appearance in 2006, won the last two sets to advance in the next round.

Speaking via the tournament’s website, Hewitt said that he wanted to do everything possible to win the match. It almost looked like the victory would just be within his reach during the match, the Aussie added. However, Nieminen proved to be a “tough competitor” for Hewitt.

“That pretty much sums up career,” Hewitt said. “I guess my mentality, going out there, and you know, never-say-die attitude.”

Hewitt received praises as he bid farewell to the Wimbledon Championships, which he won in 2002. Retired American tennis player Andy Roddick took to Twitter to commend Hewitt’s performance at SW19. Seventime-time grand slam champion Roger Federer also applauded Hewitt's game despite that Australian’s early exit at the tournament.

Meanwhile, Nieminen will face defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round. The Serbian, who current ranks World No. 1, has clinched his spot in the next round following victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-4 6-4. Nieminen trails behind Djokovic in their head-to-head record 1-5.

In other matches, Australian Bernard Tomic is also through to the second round after scoring a victory over Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-2 6-3. Tomic will play Pierre-Hughes Herbert next. Aussie young gun Nick Kyrgios beat Diego Schwartzman 6-0 6-2 7-6 to book a meeting with Juan Monaco in the second round, while Aussie up-and-coming tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis was one of the casualties when he lost to 24th-seeded Leonardo Mayer 7-6 7-6 6-4 in the first round.

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