Marat Safin bade a fond farewell to Wimbledon as he crashed out at the hands of unknown American qualifier Jesse Levine.

The former world No1 has already announced he will retire at the end of this season and his last memories of SW19 will be unhappy ones after Levine won 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 on Court 18.

The 29-year-old Russian, famous for complaining about everything from the grass to the price of food in the players' restaurant, said: “It is not the perfect way to finish my Wimbledon story.

“But it's ok. I've managed to do pretty well in my career. Unfortunately, I was a little bit unlucky with my injuries. That's the only thing that I regret.”

Safin won the US Open as a 20-year-old in 2000 and the Australian Open in 2005 but is still considered an underachiever given his immense natural talent.

He added: “Everybody could do better. I should probably have won a couple more.”