Andy Roddick booked a semi-final showdown with Andy Murray at Wimbledon as he won a five-set epic against Lleyton Hewitt.
Sixth seed Roddick needed three hours and 50 minutes to see off his Australian opponent, recording a 6-3 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-4 triumph on Court One.
Defeat ended a remarkable run at SW19 for unseeded Hewitt, who has now lost all three of his meetings with Roddick on grass.
"I'm super relieved just coming off the court and really really happy," Roddick said afterwards.
"I hadn't really been in the grand slam picture much the last two years and now it's my second semi-final of the year so far so I'm thrilled right now."
Roddick also spoke of his admiration for Hewitt and the fight he put up throughout the clash, which was their 12th on the ATP Tour.
"I think Lleyton might have hurt himself a little bit in that fourth set and it's testament to the type of player he is to have kept going and to have made it such a fight," he said.
"There's a lot of respect there. We used to get into it a little bit when we were younger but I think we've definitely earned each other's respect and now we're just a couple of old married dudes. Maybe we've grown up a little bit."
Roddick was able to take advantage of a nervous start by Hewitt to gain an early advantage on Court One.
Two double faults in a row from the world No.56 in his first service game gifted Roddick an early break and he quickly gained a 3-0 lead.
The Australian, who won the Wimbledon title in 2002, grew in confidence as the set progressed, but he was unable to make much of a breakthrough on his opponent's big serve and the sixth seed was able to close out the opener in just 27 minutes.
Hewitt came back at the start of the second though, creating his first break point in game four and producing a volley at the net to take a 3-1 lead.
But Roddick found himself with three break points two games later and the set was back on serve when his Australian opponent sent a backhand wide.
It eventually needed a tie-breaker to separate the pair, and a couple of errors from Hewitt allowed Roddick to gain a 5-2 lead, but the unseeded Australian claimed the next three points to pull level.
The pair then became involved in a long and tense battle to take the set before a winning backhand from Hewitt and a long return from Roddick saw the former edge the tie-breaker 12-10.
Having slogged it out for 61 minutes in the previous set, the third was a tepid affair as both players looked to conserve energy.
With no break-point chances on offer, another tie-breaker soon arrived and once again it was Roddick who gained an early edge, thanks to a double fault and weak backhand from Hewitt.
This time the sixth seed built on his cushion to quickly wrap up the tie-breaker and take a two-sets-to-one lead.
Hewitt appeared to be struggling at the start of the fourth, and Roddick found himself a break up in the opening game when his opponent put a forehand into the net.
But the Australian is renowned for his battling qualities and pulled the break back in game four.
The crowd were on the