An historic victory for Joao Sousa who became the first Portuguese player to win an ATP tournament on home soil. He dispatched Frances Tiafoe 6-4 6-4 to claim his third career title, his first on clay.

“It’s just amazing. It’s a dream come true. It is very special for a Portuguese player to win here on home soil. I know how hard the organisation worked to make this tournament one of the best in the world and it’s just amazing. The crowd was unbelievable.”

Local hero Sousa was made to work all week as he had to save 2 match points against Pedro Sousa in the second round and survived 3-set marathons against third seed Kyle Edmund in the quarterfinals and recent Barcelona finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semis.

It was also a good week for Tiafoe, who reached his second final this year after a straight sets victory over defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta in the semifinals.

“I didn’t feel great today. I just got outplayed. I left a lot of balls short and didn’t play near as well as I was playing this week. He took advantage and was able to play how he wanted to. It was tough. I couldn’t get anything going.”

Photo credit: MNJ, all rights reserved to MNJ.