Systems, methods and computer program products are provided for handling client requests for server application processing wherein a connection between a client and server is transferred to a servlet. A client request from a server is transferred to a servlet via a server thread. The server thread is then returned to the server, thereby leaving an open connection with the requesting client. The open client connection is then retrieved and maintained by the servlet. Upon receiving the transferred client request, the servlet processes the client request and then sends processing results directly to the client via the retrieved connection.