Australian Lleyton Hewitt became the second shock departure on day seven of Wimbledon losing out to Nicolas Escude in five sets.

The Frenchman, seeded 24th, was too good for the fifth seed Hewitt who failed to keep up the pace when the match went into a fifth set.

Afterwards, Hewitt said he was not playing well enough to have progressed any further.

"I have had a glimpse of playing well over the last four weeks but I would have had to do it for every match for five sets from now on.

Hewitt got off to a bad start, allowing Escude to take a 3-0 lead in the first set.

Though he clawed his way back to take the set, he never showed the kind of form which brought him victory at Queens.

The 20-year-old always struggled to find his rhythm on court two and it was no surprise when he was broken once in each of the next two sets to hand the initiative back to his opponent.

Hewitt rallied by breaking Escude's serve at 5-4 in the fourth set with the help of a stunning crosscourt return.

Although Hewitt won the next three games in a mini-fightback, Escude prevailed on his first matchpoint after three hours 27 minutes.

Hewitt denied he'd played too much tennis in the build up to Wimbledon and said patience was needed in his quest for his first Grand Slam title.

"I am not necessarily trying to win Grand Slams when you're 18,19 20. My coach is trying to work on my game (for the future) for when I am 23, going on til 29, 30.

"I am still developing the game. And so far so good. I keep improving every year and I have gone up in the rankings. My time will come - I just can't put a finger on when."