Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – World No. 77 Joao Sousa and fifth seed Julien Benneteau won their respective semifinal matches Saturday at the Malaysian Open tennis event.
Sousa beat fourth-seeded Jurgen Melzer by a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 margin to become the first Portuguese player to reach an ATP World Tour final since Frederico Gil in Oeiras, Portugal, in May 2010.
The 24-year-old Sousa produced the best win of his career by defeating top seed David Ferrer in the quarterfinals. He reached the final four in St. Petersburg, Russia, last week.
Next up for Sousa is Benneteau, who handled second-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka by a 6-4, 6-3 score.
Benneteau, last year's Kuala Lumpur runner-up to Argentine Juan Monaco, advanced to his first final since February, when he reached his eighth career ATP World Tour final (0-8) in Rotterdam.
The 2013 Malaysian Open champion will claim $158,000.
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