Lleyton Hewitt will take greater self-belief into next month's US Open after exiting Wimbledon with a gallant quarter-final loss to Andy Roddick.
The American sixth seed needed to play one of the matches of his life to squeeze past Hewitt 6-3, 6-7 (10-12), 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-4 in an epic stoush lasting almost four hours yesterday.
The defeat ended Hewitt's impressive showing at the All England Club as he continues his way back up the rankings following hip surgery last year.
He is likely to climb back into the top 50 after reaching his first grand slam quarter-final since the 2006 US Open and could figure in the seedings for the last major of the year commencing in New York on August 31.
Back playing some of his finest tennis, Hewitt is eager to return to Flushing Meadows, where he won his first slam in 2001 and also lost the 2004 final to Roger Federer during a seven-year run of quarter-finals showings or better.
''Obviously the US Open will be the next focus. For me, it's just about getting my body right and being able to compete there again,'' Hewitt said, having missed last year's Open.
''It was disappointing that I missed it last year. It will be nice to go back to Flushing Meadows. It's one of my favourite tournaments.
''It's a special place for me to go back to. It's nice going back there not having to defend any points either.''
Another decent run in New York, plus some good results in the lead-up, should have Hewitt back in the top 20 by the season's end, leaving him primed for another serious tilt at the Australian Open in January.
While acknowledging he was entering the twilight of his stellar career, Hewitt has shown he can still compete with the best when fit and firing.
The former world No1 rated his second-round victory over Wimbledon fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro as a highlight and also reflected with satisfaction on his classic fightback from 2-0 down to beat 23rd seed Radek Stepanek on Tuesday.
''It's more looking at the last phase of my career and trying to get as much out of it as possible, doing all the hard work to get as much out of it as I can the next few years,'' Hewitt said.
''You're never a hundred per cent sure after a surgery how well you're going to feel after that, how quickly it's going to be able to come back and whether you're going to be able to compete with the best guys in the world. I feel now that I'm able to do that.''
His clash with Roddick who committed just five backhand unforced errors in a match three-time champion John Newcombe described as ''the best of the tournament so far by a mile'' was a typical Hewitt dogfight.
The 2002 champion struggled to make inroads on Roddick's all-powerful serve, while his own faltered as he battled a left thigh strain.
Roddick, who fired down 43 aces, took the first set comfortably and looked to have served his way out of trouble in the second, only for Hewitt to steal it in a tiebreak.
It was more of the same in the third until Hewitt played a terrible breaker to hand Roddick the set and then drop his opening service game in the fourth set to look down and out.
But Hewitt broke back to draw level at 2-2 and broke again in the 10th game to force a fifth set.
In the decider, Hewitt failed to convert three critical break-point chances in the fourth game, with Roddick conceding he saved one with the best half volley he'd ever made.
The turning point came when Roddick broke in the ninth game when he ripped a forehand past the Australian.
''It certainly wasn't short on drama,'' Roddick said.
''It was tough from a mental standpoint, because Lleyton wasn't going away and there were kind of a lot of ebbs and flows to the match.
''I'm just happy to be on the good side of it.'' AAP