Stan Wawrinka said he could not have asked for a better goodbye at Wimbledon after his defeat to Matteo Berrettini in a thrilling contest.

Wawrinka, who is retiring this year, bowed out at the All England Club in epic fashion.

The 41-year-old went down 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (18-16) 7-6 (7-9) 7-6 (7-5) in a clash that lasted well over four hours.

Wawrinka counts three grand slam titles among his career honours, though he never progressed beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

However, he took in the adulation of the crowd on Court One after his final match at SW19.

"I don't want to retire, but I know it is time for me to stop playing," he said.

"One of the reasons I've kept playing for such a long time is to enjoy the moments like tonight. There were so many emotions.

"I'm so grateful to have this opportunity, to receive the wildcard, to have the chance to play one last time at Wimbledon.

"It is such a special tournament. As a kid, you always dream about maybe being here one day and I had the chance to play here so many times. That kind of support also meant so much to me, so thank you so much for all of these years.

I pushed it to my own limit. It was a great fight against Matteo, who is a good friend, a great guy. He deserved to win, so congratulations to him.

"It is never easy to say goodbye to something you love so much. I've always been passionate about the game. I'm really grateful for having the chance to play one last time here, I couldn't have dreamed of a better goodbye."

Berrettini, runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final in 2021, will take on number 20 seed Arthur Fils in the next round.