Third seed Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Hall of Fame Championships with a 6-4 6-4 victory on Friday over sixth seed Steve Johnson.

The 33-year-old Aussie, seeking his third trip in a row to the finals of the grass-court event, needed just 78 minutes to secure a quarter-final triumph in his first career meeting with the American.

Hewitt will play for a spot in Sunday’s final against American Jack Sock who upset top seed John Isner 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

Seventh seed Sock won the only break point he managed off his countryman to claim the first set, then captured the tie-breaker to oust the 2011 and 2012 Hall of Fame winner in 88 minutes.

That sends 21-year-old Sock into a Saturday semi-final against 33-year-old Hewitt, who won his first ATP title since 2010 at Brisbane in January.

He is seeking his third consecutive trip to the championship match, having lost Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in last year’s final and to Isner in the 2012 title match.

Saturday’s other semi-final will send Croatian second seed Ivo Karlovic against Australian Sam Groth, who upset Mahut in the quarter-finals on Thursday.