The fifth-seeded Safin lost a straight-set decision to No. 26 seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, to exit the tournament in the third round.
Safin, the reigning Australian Open champion, has been vocal about his dislike of playing on grass and tends to play his best on hard-court surfaces. He lost in the first round of Wimbledon last year.
"I just couldn't really find my game," said Safin. "He's a tough player. What do you want me to do? I can't play my best tennis every day. I didn't really play bad."
Marat Safin crashed out of Wimbledon Friday with a loss to Feliciano Lopez in the third round. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Safin lost his temper 24 minutes into the match after missing a pair of break points, hitting a ball out of the court in frustration. That earned him a code violation from the umpire.
Sitting on a two-set advantage, Lopez broke Safin to love in the sixth game of the third and put the Russian out of his misery with his 14th ace to end the match.
"He played really well," Safin said. "He had nothing to lose. He had no pressure whatsoever and he was playing his game.
"I'm satisfied. I found my game on grass. I have nothing to complain about."
No. 2 seed Andy Roddick finished his second-round match on Friday and survived a five-set thriller to advance.
Roddick's contest with Italy's Daniele Bracciali was suspended due to darkness on Thursday with the American ahead 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (7-3). When play resumed Friday, Bracciali won the fourth set 6-4 to draw even, but Roddick outlasted the Italian 6-3 in the fifth.
Also on Friday, No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt of Australia advanced to the next round with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 7-5 victory over American Justin Gimelstob.
Hewitt will next face No. 24 seed Taylor Dent of the U.S. Dent downed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Croatian Mario Ancic, No. 10, defeated Gael Monfils of France, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
No. 21 seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile downed No. 11 Joachim Johansson of Sweden, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Play at Wimbledon was later called for the day due to rain. No 1 seeds Roger Federer and Lindsay Davenport will have their matches rescheduled.
Mauresmo advances to fourth round
In the women's draw, No. 3 seed Amelie Mauresmo of France breezed past American Shenay Perry, 6-0, 6-2, in a third-round match. Mauresmo won 64 of the 100 points in a match that took 57 minutes to complete.
Mauresmo will next face No. 13 seed Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 22 seed Silvia Farina Elia of Italy.
"I really am enjoying to play on this surface," Mauresmo said. "So we'll see where it takes me."
U.S. Open champion and No. 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia survived a tough battle with No. 27 Nicole Vaidisova, but pulled out a 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 victory over the native of the Czech Republic. Kuznetsova faces Bulgarian Magdalena Maleeva, a straight-set winner over Italian Antonella Serra Zanetti, in the next round.
Sixth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia defeated Mashona Washington of the U.S., 7-5, 6-1.
In one of the most entertaining matches at Wimbledon thus far, No. 9 seed Anastasia Myskina of Russia defeated No. 17 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia-Montenegro, 6-0, 5-7, 10-8.
Myskina led 5-3 in the second set and was down 5-1 in the third, but battled back and eventually pulled out the win in two hours and 43 minutes. Myskina meets Dementieva in the fourth round.
with files from Associated Press
