Lleyton Hewitt is rolling back the years and pushing for an unlikely return to the world's top 50.
It took serving world-record holder John Isner to blast 21 aces past Hewitt to deny Australia's resurgent warrior a place in back-to-back ATP Tour finals for the first time in more than seven years.
But Hewitt's run to the semi-finals at the Atlanta Open, a week after blunting Isner en route to the title match at Newport, will elevate the former world No.1 to the cusp of the top 60.
The 32-year-old - who last reached successive finals in Las Vegas and San Jose back in February 2006 and needed career-saving toe surgery last year - is brimming with confidence ahead of next month's US Open after chalking up 12 wins from his past 16 matches.
Hewitt's scalps include top-10 stars Juan Martin del Potro and Stanislas Wawrinka at Queen's and Wimbledon respectively, and the then-19th-ranked Isner at Newport.
The 2001 US Open champion hasn't been ranked in the top 50 since 2010, the year he won his last title with victory over the great Roger Federer at Halle.
But despite his 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5) semi-final loss to Isner in Atlanta on Sunday, Hewitt looms as an unseeded player to avoid on New York's hard courts at Flushing Meadows when the US Open begins on August 26.
Apart from needing 21 aces, Isner pulled off a clutch volley winner in the third-set tiebreak to put Hewitt away.
"I hit a fantastic volley. It was a huge point," Isner said.
"I thought I played very well."
It was Isner's 12th successive tiebreak win and thrust the 2.08-metre American bean pole into the tallest ATP Tour final in history against 2.03-metre South African Kevin Anderson.
Second seed Anderson had his own semi-final struggles, saving two set points in the 12th game of the second set before prevailing 6-3 7-6 (7-3) over American Ryan Harrison.
In a rivalry that dates back to their US university days, Isner and Anderson have met eight times previously, but never in a final.
Isner has won five of those meetings, most recently in the quarter-finals at Delray Beach this year.
"John's very tricky to play," Anderson said.
"Obviously he's got one of the best serves probably in the history of the game, and he really uses it well."
Among other serving records he holds, Isner famously crunched a world-record 113 aces in his epic 11-hour, five-minute victory over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon three years ago.
Coincidentally, it was Mahut who downed Hewitt in the Newport final last week.
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