KUALA LUMPUR - Unseeded Joao Sousa defeated fifth seed Julien Benneteau of France 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the Malaysian Open final Sunday for his maiden career title — the first ATP win for Portugal. Sousa, 24, emerged as a giant killer in the event, defeating top seed David Ferrer in the last eight, and then fourth seed Juergen Melzer in the semi-finals. “I don’t know what to say right now. It is unbelievable,” he said. “I have had so many breakthroughs this past two weeks. It used to be that when you failed to win a title if you’re 18, you won’t have much chance, but now it is different,” he said. “The average age of the top 100 is 28, so there is still hope for me. I admire Federer and Nadal and hope to be up there one day, but realise my standard, I don’t want to think too far,” added Sousa.–AFP