Groth breaks down in emotional farewell to tennis

Former Newcombe medallist Sam Groth has farewelled tennis with an emotional interview following his exit from the men's doubles on Wednesday night.

Groth planned to retire from the sport after one last shot at the Australian Open, bringing Lleyton Hewitt off the shelf as well as partnering Sam Stosur in the mixed doubles.

The 30-year-old missed out on a wildcard and failed to qualify for the men's singles competition.

But Groth and Hewitt performed better than expected to reach the quarter-finals of the doubles, where they lost 4-6 5-7 to Colombian 11th seeds Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah on Margaret Court Arena.

"First I'll just say thanks to Lleyton for coming out here and playing with me in my last tournament," Groth said before he began to tear up and pause the interview.

"Obviously it's not how we wanted to go out but... and thank you to all my team, everyone who's worked for me..."

Groth stepped away from the microphone as the crowd applauded the veteran from Melbourne, with Hewitt taking over for a touching speech.

"Playing in front of great crowds on big home courts like this, it's what you really miss," said the former world No.1, who played his last singles campaign at the 2016 Australian Open before doubles in the Davis Cup and Wimbledon that year.

"The adrenaline rush from coming out here and trying to put on a show for you guys -- when you retire, that's the biggest thing.

"For us we came out here, we had a great tournament. We didn't come into it with a lot of expectations but we had a great week and a half."

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The current Australian Davis Cup captain, Hewitt credited his past matches alongside Groth in the green and gold as the reason behind the "pretty special" farewell to Groth.

Groth was given the final word and held on for a wonderful tribute, followed by a standing ovation from the fans in attendance.

"Thanks to my fiancee Britt," he said.

"Obviously my family and all the coaches that've worked with me over time and especially the Aussie fans. I appreciate everything you guys have done for me, so thank you to everybody. I appreciate it."