Home favourite Sousa lands Estoril crown

ESTORIL, Portugal: Portugal’s Joao Sousa had to battle at the end before becoming the first home player to win the Estoril Open with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of American Frances Tiafoe on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Sousa, ranked 68th in the world, needed to call upon his reserves to claim the opening set by saving three break points in the final game.Serving for victory at 5-2 in the second, the Portuguese was broken as Tiafoe briefly delayed the festivities.

But the local hero came good two games later as he clinched a third career title, a feat which quickly got the mainly Portuguese crowd into the mood for a mass sing-along chorus of celebration.

“This is fantastic, it’s such a special win, especially coming at home,” Sousa said. “I’m so proud to win here.“There are no words to describe this emotion, the fans were fantastic all week. It was incredible, it was a dream come true.

“I always wanted to win here in Portugal.”The previous Portuguese high point at the event came in 2010 when Frederico Gil played the final, losing to Albert Montanes of Spain. Tiafoe, realising how much the victory meant to his opponent, crossed the net to speak with Sousa and congratulate him.

“I knew how big this is for him, it would be big for me if I won. The whole country was behind him, I’m sure he felt that all week,” Tiafoe said.“He’s massive here, it’s huge that he won. He played too good, too tough for me.”

Sousa, playing in his 10th final, also won Valencia in 2015 and at Kuala Lumpur five years ago. Tiafoe, 20, was thwarted in his bid to collect a second career title after making his trophy breakthrough in February at Delray Beach, Florida. Sousa improved to 18-10 this season after a poor start which he turned around with consistent results starting in March.