Yo, ASP season, I’m gonna let you finish, but Kelly Slater and John John Florence had one of the best heats of all time! I hope Kanye doesn’t sue me for copyright infringement by stealing his line there, but anyone
Yo, ASP season, I’m gonna let you finish, but Kelly Slater and John John Florence had one of the best heats of all time!
I hope Kanye doesn’t sue me for copyright infringement by stealing his line there, but anyone who saw Monday’s semifinal matchup between Slater and Florence during the Billabong Pro Tahiti knows that I speak the truth. For those who didn’t: YouTube! While it was world No. 1 Gabriel Medina who ultimately won the contest on an epic Teahupoo day, the most memorable battle will certainly be between the 11-time world champ and the potential heir apparent from Oahu.
Just seconds into the 35-minute heat, Florence took the first set wave, disappearing into a huge barrel and eventually emerging in his casual, no-frills stance, sending all the floatilla onlookers into shrieks of approval. But it was only seconds later when Slater hopped into the second wave and landed the drop, managed to get a little higher on the face to avoid the foam ball before being spit out to more whoops and applause.
The commentators immediately wondered if there had just been two perfect 10s to start things off. They were almost correct. Florence earned a 9.90 and Slater’s was deemed slightly better for a 10. John John quickly backed his score up with a 9.10 to momentarily take a lead and put pressure on the veteran. Apparently Slater feels no pressure because he pulled ahead again with a 9.77, hoping to reach his first final of the year.
In the closing minutes, Florence needed a 9.88 to advance. A set approached and he hopped into a wave with less than 60 seconds remaining. It was picture perfect and a textbook backhand tube ride. After he did his non-claim claim on the way out, John John paddled towards Slater and the two joked around while waiting for the judges to decide the outcome. It felt like an eternity for us watching so I can only imagine what they were feeling. As the scores came in, Florence’s near perfection actually created the perfect outcome. He received a 9.87 which put the two competitors in a tie at 19.77 total. Slater’s perfect 10 was the tiebreaker as the highest single wave of the heat.
Though he went on to lose the final – by a heartbreaking three-hundredths of a point, receiving a 9.30 in the last minute when a 9.33 would have won it – Slater participated in a heat that rivaled any in even his outstanding and storied career.
While John John was vanquishing foes throughout the event, one of his casualties was Sebastian Zietz. The two tangled in the third round and Seabass was certainly up to the challenge, but it’s tough to beat a guy who puts up a 19.93 out of 20 total. Zietz earned a pair of nines and totaled an 18.50, only to see a perfect 10 and a 9.93 on the opposing scoreline. But his Equal 13th place still makes it six straight events that Seabass has reached the third round and he inches up to 18th place for the season in the World Championship Tour rankings.
TATI TAKES THIRD IN FRANCE: On the other side of the globe, Princeville’s Tatiana Weston-Webb took third place at the Swatch Girls Pro France. After taking second place at the Supergirl Pro in Oceanside, California earlier this month, Tati added another huge result to her qualification resume in Seignosse, France. Following a pair of lay days, Weston-Webb won her Round of 12 heat in dominating fashion against a pair of world tour wahine, beating Nikki Van Dijk and Laura Enever.
She then eliminated Australia’s Keely Andrew in the quarterfinals. Andrew had a great week of her own, winning the junior event. But the semifinal was Tati’s final heat as Van Dijk came on strong at the end, scoring her two best waves on her last two rides for the heat win. She then went on to top Oahu’s Mahina Maeda in the final for the 6-Star victory.
It’s Tati’s third 6-Star semifinal of the season and the 2,080 qualifying points move her all the way up to fourth place in the Qualification Series standings. With one more 6-Star event this week – the Pantin Classic Galicia Pro in La Coruna, Spain – another solid result would all but assure her a spot on the 2015 World Championship Tour.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
