Agassi, who won his first grand slam title at the All England Club in 1992, was beaten 7-6 6-2 6-4 by a player who was just a year old when Agassi made his Wimbledon debut in 1987. The 36-year-old will now hope to go out on a high when he plays his last event before retiring at the US Open later this year. He told a packed Centre Court crowd:

"It's been a lot of incredible years here, I'll never be able to repay you for how you've embraced me over the years.

I thank you for that. This is it for us, if you dream about being a professional tennis player you dream about being right here.

"I've had the privilege of being here many times and this is one I won't forget. Coming back this year I didn't know what to expect from myself but one thing I felt I could count on was how you've always been to me over the years and I thank you for that."

Nadal had allowed Agassi to walk onto Centre Court ahead of him to receive a standing ovation from the crowd. But that was where the courtesy ended as Nadal quickly put Agassi under immense pressure, the American saving a total of six break points . . . the last three of them set points . . .

to stay on level terms.

Agassi then looked set to rub salt in the wound in the tiebreak as he moved 5-2 ahead, but Nadal won the next five points in a row, one of them with a forehand winner so audacious even Agassi was moved to applaud. The French Open champion closed it out 75 with an ace to take the upper hand on a sweltering afternoon at the All England Club.

The first set had taken just over an hour on one of the hottest days of the year, and fatigue was sure to be a major factor if the match went the distance. That would obviously favour Nadal, but the 20-year-old looked certain to make it a moot point when he took the second set in just 32 minutes. The Spanish star took advantage of a lucky net cord to break Agassi in the opening game, and broke again in the seventh before serving out to take it 6-2 and a two-set lead.

Agassi screamed in frustration when a rare low bounce caused him to send a forehand long and gift Nadal a break point in the fifth game of the third set, but the 1992 champion dug deep to hold serve and edge ahead 3-2. That proved to be only a temporary reprieve however as Nadal broke in the seventh game to lead 4-3 and stand on the verge of a famous victory and a place in the fourth round.

Despite being one of the best returners the game has ever seen, Agassi had been unable to create a single break point on Nadal's serve and the second seed duly served out to complete victory. All that remained was for Agassi to blow kisses to all four sides of the Centre Court for one last time before heading for the changing room.

Meanwhile, sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt claimed a 6-1 6-4 64 victory over Belgium's Olivier Rochus to seal a place in the last 16. The 2002 champion took the first set 6-1 in just 25 minutes and drove home his advantage when he broke early in the second to build a two-set lead.

The Australian was made to work harder against 26th seed Rochus in the third but broke at 4-4 before sealing it 6-4.

ight-hander Hewitt now faces either Spain's David Ferrer or Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in round four.

In the women's competition Elena Demienteva ground out a hard-fought win over fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva to reach round four for the fourth time in five years. Demntieva fought back from 3-1 down in the second set to reel off five games in a row to win 7-5 6-3.

The error-strewn match contained 16 double faults and 11 breaks of serve as both players struggled with their game.

Seventh seed Demienteva finally ended the match on a baking Court Two with her fourth match point.

Ninth seed Anastasia Myskina booked her fourthround place by sealing a 6-3 64 victory against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.

The 24-year-old took the first set before receiving medical attention after complaining of feeling unwell. But the break hardly affected the Russian as she raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set inside 12 minutes.

Medina Garrigues, the 23rd seed, fought back to 5-4 but Myskina held serve to book her place in the last 26. Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Montenegro fought back from a set and 4-2 down to beat Russian 14th seed Dinara Safina 36 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 and make the last 16. And the 16th seed Flavia Pennetta made it through to the fourth round for the second year in a row with a 6-2 63 win over China's Shuai Peng.