Almost two months after the most recent event, the Championship Tour is set to return for the ninth and final contest of the year before the WSL Finals. Of course, the majority of the CT surfers haven’t just been resting on their laurels, with the Olympic event in Tahiti grabbing the attention of the surfing world, but with that done, transmission is set to resume as normal – and not just for any old event.
The Corona Fiji Pro will ultimately determine which five male and female surfers make it through to the WSL Finals at Trestles, with plenty of potential for movement in the rankings on both sides of the draw. For the men, John John Florence has well and truly secured top spot and Griffin Colapinto, Jack Robinson and Italo Ferreira are well-placed to hold onto their own finals spots, but very little separates Ethan Ewing, Yago Dora and Jordy Smith, while Gabriel Medina lurks menacingly just below and is still in the hunt.
For the women , Caity Simmers has probably locked up top spot herself while Caroline Marks, Brisa Hennessy, Molly Picklum and Gabriela Bryan round out the top five, but Johanne Defay and Tatiana Weston-Webb are still very much in the mix and a couple of others below them could still sneak in if they secure a win in Fiji.
It’s safe to say that there is plenty on the line, and if Cloudbreak can deliver anything like what we saw at yet another of the barrelling left-handers on tour in Teahupo’o a couple of months ago, this event will be compelling viewing. With the seasons of so many surfers on the line, let’s take a look at who might be there when the whips are cracking at the Corona Fiji Pro.
Men’s Corona Fiji Pro
It’s been seven years since the Corona Fiji Pro was a part of the men’s tour – or the women’s – so unsurprisingly there are not a whole lot of former winners set to take part in this year’s edition of the event. As he did at so many contests, Kelly Slater had a hold on it for an extended period of time, winning here four out of the five times it was held between 2005 and 2013, while Medina has the best record out of those currently in the mix having won it twice. Him aside, none of the other contenders for this event have stood atop the podium here, so it’s very likely we will have an inaugural Fiji Pro winner in a few days’ time. These are the most likely candidates.
The Favourites
John John Florence’s season is probably a good example of why the WSL opted to bring in a WSL Finals, rather than simply giving the world title to whoever finishes on top of the standings. Of course, this way is less fair – Florence has clearly been the best male surfer this year and deserves to be world champion – but without the Finals, there would be nothing to compete for at this contest outside of winning the contest itself, such is the Hawaiian’s lead atop the world standings. He has been the most consistent surfer all year, making the final in four of eight events, including at Pipeline and Teahupo’o. As we all know, Florence is as good as anyone at his home break of Pipeline and that generally translates to other heaving backhand barrels like Teahupo’o and Cloudbreak. That hasn’t necessarily always translated to this event in the past – he’s finished 5th, 3rd, 5th, 5th and 13th in that order in his previous appearances here, but of course the last of those was seven years ago. He is making finals for fun this year, and in the last event before he heads to Trestles as the number one seed in his quest for a third world title, he’s as good a chance as anyone of making another one here.
The only man in the world who can currently challenge Florence on these kinds of waves is Gabriel Medina, who will need a big result – probably an event win – if he is to make his way into the top five and appear at Trestles. Medina is fresh off a bronze medal at Teahupo’o, where he has finished third or better every time he has appeared there for a decade, and as mentioned he also has a pretty damn good record here. Interestingly, in the six times he has competed here he has been knocked out early three times, but the other three times he has finished 2nd, 1st and 1st. Of course, as with everyone it has been a long time between drinks and Medina is not currently the surfer he has been in the past. But he has been slowly heating up as the season has worn on, and is not the kind of competitor you want to count out with his back against the wall. Needing a big result to appear in Trestles and on a wave where he has enjoyed plenty of success in the past, Medina is right in the mix to win this contest and make what would be a stunning last-minute charge into the WSL Finals.
Jack Robinson rounds out the best trio of surfers on these types of waves in the world, and fresh off a Silver Medal in Teahupo’o he is another who will be hard to beat in Fiji. Surprisingly, Robinson was actually knocked out early at both Pipeline and Teahupo’o in their respective CT events this year, but that’s not normally the case. In fact, last year he won them both, so it’s safe to say he knows how to handle himself on backhand barrels. He is precariously placed in third in the world standings, very much in the mix to go past Griffin Colapinto into second with a good result here but equally not guaranteed a spot at Trestles if he is knocked out early, so he will be keen to at the very least get through to the quarters or semis to get himself enough points to lock up a spot in the top five. His last three CT results have not been particularly good, but he was back to something resembling his best at the Olympics, and if that transfers to Cloudbreak then he could easily win this contest.
The Next Tier
The form surfer from a CT perspective is Italo Ferreira, who after a down couple of years and slow first half of this year, has skyrocketed back into world title contention with two wins in the last three events. One of those was at Teahupo’o, which bodes well for his performance at Cloudbreak, and with less than 3,000 points – which equates to a round or two, depending on what stage of the contest it is – separating him from his fellow Brazilian, Yago Dora, in 6th, Ferreira doesn’t need to look far for motivation in Fiji. The diminutive goofy-footer has finished 5th, 13th and 9th in his three previous performances here, but if he can handle Teahupo’o and Pipeline then he can handle Cloudbreak. His performances at those other two breaks has actually been a little erratic over the years, but he has wins at both of them to his name, and with winning form behind him it’s not out of the realms of possibility that he adds a Fiji Pro title to his trophy cabinet.
Sitting a couple of spots ahead of Ferreira in 2nd place in the world is Griffin Colapinto, though like Ferreira, he is not guaranteed a spot in the WSL Finals if he is knocked out early in Fiji. But while he has been as good as anyone in the world this year – with the exception of Florence – and is a bonafide chance here as a result, he certainly doesn’t have the past form behind him at either this or similar breaks. In fact, having first competed on the CT in 2018 he has never before competed at a Fiji Pro, and he hasn’t really set the world on fire on heavy left-handed reefs like this before either. In his last seven appearances at those breaks he has not once made it past the quarterfinals, and we have to head all the way back to 2019 to find the last occasion that he did well at a wave such as this – that being when he came 3rd at that year’s Pipe Masters. It’s hard to rule out anyone surfing as well as he is and his last couple of years have been a lot better than any previous, so many of those aforementioned poor results can probably be discounted. There is, however, no denying that form, and he would have to overcome a pretty significant trend to win this contest.
The Roughie
Standing in basically complete contrast to Colapinto is Kelly Slater. The GOAT is, of course, 52 years of age and no longer competitive at the top level, nor has he been for many years. But if ever he was going to make an extraordinary return to the podium, it would be at a wave like this. Already he did that a couple of years ago at Pipeline, while his last win prior to that was at Teahupo’o, which also broke a significant drought. Could he miraculously add another similar wave in Cloudbreak to those unexpected, breakthrough wins? As mentioned earlier, Slater has won here plenty before, taking out four of five contests earlier in the century. He also finished 3rd in 2016, the second last time the event was run and at the ripe old age of 44. Eight years later he has dropped off competitively significantly since then, but he was still well past his best in 2016. Realistically it’s hard to see him going all that deep into the event, but if there is a wave that Kelly Slater is going to wind back the clock at, Cloudbreak would be right up there among his best chances.
Our Prediction
Florence, Medina and Robinson are clearly the best surfers in the world at these types of waves, which is a big advantage for them given that Pipeline, Teahupo’o and Cloudbreak make up 33% of the tour. Florence and Robinson will be hard to beat, but everything is set up for a Medina fairytale here. With three 17th place finishes in the first four events of the season it seemed virtually impossible for him to return to world title contention, but he has gradually worked his way into the race for the top five. He is still yet to make a final this year, but with two semi-final appearances in his last three events – and a quarterfinal at the other – he is getting closer and closer. Probably needing a win to give himself any chance of making it to Trestles, the three-time world champ can pull a proverbial rabbit out of the hat with a third win at the Fiji Pro.
Women’s Fiji Pro
Like on the men’s side of the draw, the women have not competed at Cloudbreak since back in 2017, meaning experience at the break among the competing cohort will be low – particularly given the raft of young guns leading the charge on the women’s tour at the moment. France’s Johanne Defay will be the only member of the 12 competitors to have won here before, having taken out the Fiji Pro back in 2016, and while she can’t be ruled out there are plenty of names ahead of her at this contest. Below, we take a look at all of the best chances of winning the first Fiji Pro since 2017, and the event which will ultimately decide who competes at the WSL Finals at Trestles next month.
The Favourites
Reigning world champion Caroline Marks is not technically guaranteed a spot in the WSL Finals just yet, but as the 2nd placed surfer heading into the final event she will make it through barring a complete disaster – which seems unlikely given that she has made the quarterfinals at every event so far this year. Marks heads to Fiji with her proverbial tail in the air after winning the Gold Medal at Tahiti just a couple of months after she finished third there on the CT, showing just how comfortable she is in these kinds of waves on her front side. Cloudbreak will again afford her the opportunity to hunt barrels with her face to the wave, and based on how she has performed at these kinds of breaks recently – she also won the Tahiti Pro last year – as well as the fact that she goes deep into most tournaments, she is probably the woman to beat.
And if she isn’t, then Caitlin Simmers is next in the queue for favouritism at the Fiji Pro. The 18-year-old prodigy sits nearly 6,000 points clear in 1st place in the world rankings and is fresh off a win at the VIVO Rio Pro – I use the term fresh liberally given it was two months ago, but it was the most recent CT event. That was her third win in eight events this season, and with two wins last year as well she has now won an incredible five out of 18 contests since joining the tour – and all this as a teenager. One of those wins was at Pipeline earlier this year while she also finished 2nd in Tahiti last year, so it’s safe to say that she is not afraid of the big stuff. Simmers is about as well-rounded as anyone on tour and has already won in all manner of different conditions, and with many of her competitors still adapting to waves of this magnitude being on tour, she should be able to make her way through to the latter stages of this event without too many problems.
The Next Tier
At 24 years of age, Brisa Hennessy is not exactly old, but it feels like she has been around forever given the age of many of the best surfers in the world on the women’s side of the draw. And this year, her fifth proper season on tour, she has taken a big step forward, currently sitting in 3rd place in the world rankings. She was as consistent as anyone during the first half or so of the year, making the semi-finals in five of the first six events, though a couple of quarterfinal exits in a row mean that she would want to avoid an early exit in Fiji to assure her of a spot at Trestles. Hennessy hasn’t competed at a Fiji Pro before, but she has generally performed well at Pipe and Teahupo’o, finishing 3rd and 2nd at those this year and 2nd at Teahupo’o a couple of years ago too. But a consistent issue for Hennessy has been winning – for all of those 2nds and 3rds, she has taken out just one event in her career. That makes it hard to see her winning this one, but there is a good chance she will at least be there when the whips are cracking.
The second goofy-footer among the top chances at the Fiji Pro, Tatiana Weston-Webb has hit form at the right time of year and, as a result, has put herself in with a chance of an appearance at the WSL Finals which seemed highly unlikely a few short months ago. She has made the semi-finals at two of the last three events including at Teahupo’o, and also went heartbreakingly close to winning the Gold Medal at the same venue, falling just 0.17 short of Marks in the final. The Brazilian is one of few competitors at this event who has competed in the Fiji Pro in the past, and she’s done well in it too, finishing 2nd at the most recent edition of the event way back in 2017. But finals have been elusive for Weston-Webb since she just narrowly missed out on an inaugural world title in 2022 – she hasn’t made one since then despite appearing in five semi-finals in that time, so she would need to overcome a pretty significant trend to win here.
In contrast to Weston-Webb, Molly Picklum started this season like a house on fire, but her form in recent events – in fact, stretching way back to when the tour left Hawaii – has been indifferent to say the least. She finished 1st and 2nd in the first two events of the year, but in the six since she has failed to make it past the quarterfinals. Still, those early season results are enough to have her sitting in 4th spot in the world rankings, and likely in the WSL Finals if she can secure a solid result at the Fiji Pro. Clearly the 21-year-old has not been at her best for some time now, though she has endured a few early exits as a result of tight defeats and as still put together some decent heats. She also finished 2nd at Pipeline earlier in the year, so while she may have struggled in Tahiti she has shown an ability to surf these reefs on her backhand well. It would take a massive turnaround for her to go deep into this tournament, but Picklum is a really talented young surfer, and if she can recapture something close to her best she could easily put in her best showing since Hawaii.
The Roughie
As mentioned, there is only one former winner in this field, and that title goes to France’s Johanne Defay. The veteran has consistently been there or thereabouts in the world title race for many years now without ever finishing higher than 3rd, and this year hasn’t been all that different – she currently sits in 6th, just outside of a finals spot but with every chance of jumping inside the top five following this event. But while she has never been able to put a world title inside her trophy cabinet, event wins have been relatively consistent for her, with one coming most years since she joined the tour. She has already locked one away this season, having won at Portugal on the third stop of the year, but we know that she is comfortable on this wave – not only did she win it in 2016, she came 3rd the year prior. Though that was a long time ago, she is surfing as well now at 30 years of age as she was back then and has a truckload more experience to boot, and if she can repeat anything like that effort she will go close to winning. That year she averaged 14.84 across her seven heats, surpassing 15 four times and surpassing 17 in both the semi and the final. Those are big numbers on a wave that most surfers in this field don’t have much, if any, experience at, so don’t be surprised to see the Frenchwoman put in a big show and slide inside the top five just in the nick of time.
Our Prediction
As the last event of the season before the WSL Finals, there is more to this contest than simply who wins, and each heat will have a huge amount riding on it. But come the pointy end of the Fiji Pro, Marks and Simmers look like clearly the two to beat. Defay certainly could be a good chance as an outsider, but given how well they have surfed this year I’m not game enough to go against the current top two in the world. Marks will be riding high on the back of her Gold Medal, but no one has been able to win as regularly as Simmers over the past couple of years, and she has proven herself in waves of consequence such as this in the past. Already she has likely secured top spot in the world rankings, but she can really make a statement heading to the Finals with an incredible fourth win for the season.
