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Emotional farewell as Hewitt goes down fighting

Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt bade an emotional farewell from tennis on Thursday after a combustible Australian Open defeat in which he slammed the umpire as an "idiot" and defiantly dismissed match-fixing allegations.

The intensely competitive Australian, roared on by a partisan crowd, couldn't live with Spain's David Ferrer and he went down 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours 32 minutes to exit what was his final tournament before retiring.

Afterwards Hewitt, wearing a shirt decorated with the Australian flag, was joined on court by his three children while his wife, former soap opera actress Bec, looked on in tears.

"It was an unbelievable atmosphere out there. A couple of the roars during the match tonight was as loud as I've ever played in front of. I was getting goosebumps at times," Hewitt said.

"It's sort of a strange feeling because you're obviously disappointed not to keep going, but obviously proud of everything we've done as well."

Although Hewitt fought all the way in the second-round match, the feisty two-time Grand Slam winner could not get close enough to the tenacious Ferrer, who broke the Australian's serve five times. 

Emotion boiled over in the final set when, with the match ebbing away, Hewitt was given an audible obscenity warning before he clashed with the chair umpire, calling him a "frigging idiot".

An emotional Ferrer paid tribute to Hewitt: "He is one of the best players in the history. His performance this Australian Open was very good. Tonight is the night for him and also for me."

Hewitt also responded defiantly to his name being linked in an anonymous online report with historic match-fixing claims that have rocked the sport, saying it was "absurd" and a "farce."

"I don't think anyone here would think that I've done anything (like) corruption or match-fixing. It's just absurd," he said in his after-match press conference.

"Yeah, it's disappointing. I think throwing my name out there with it makes the whole thing an absolute farce."