Lleyton Hewitt believes mental toughness was the key to his stirring five-set win over David Nalbandian in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
"I just had to dig deep in the fifth set, and yet again the never-say-die attitude came out," Hewitt said.
The local favourite had looked in trouble when Nalbandian recovered from losing the first two sets to force the match into a fifth and deciding set.
The momentum was with the Argentine and Hewitt, who had gone the full distance in his previous match with Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal, was struggling with a hip injury.
But the number three seed overcame his tiredness to clinch a 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 3-6, 10-8 victory that delighted the home fans.
"Yet again I was able to come through in the clutch situations, such as the match against Nadal the other day," said Hewitt, a former world number one.