Commentary

From grom to greatness

Gabriel Medina wins in just his second World Tour event

Updated: October 12, 2011, 7:57 PM ET
By Peter 'Joli' Wilson | ESPN.com

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"I beat the greatest surfer in the world today," an overwhelmed Gabriel Medina said Wednesday after taking out Kelly Slater in the quarterfinals at the Quiksilver Pro France. This was only Medina's second World Tour event.

Medina and Slater met three times in this year's event. In the previous two heats, Medina had gotten closer and closer. In foggy, low-tide conditions with a slight onshore wind blowing into the left-hand peaks, ideal for the young goofy footer, Medina finally found the waves to display his aerial repertoire.

2011 Quik Pro France


Gabriel Medina just shocked the world to win the Quik Pro France. Gallery Photo Gallery

Slater likes to get the first wave of the heat and set up a rhythm in which his opponent is chasing his scores, but Wednesday morning, it was Medina who nabbed the first wave and Slater seemed out of balance for the rest of the heat. In a rare occurrence, Slater needed a combination of two scoring waves at the end of the heat. Medina dominated his semifinal heat against Taylor Knox in a similar way, to set up the final with Julian Wilson.

"Not much of a performance by me," Slater said afterward. "I guess he surfed well; I didn't really see much, as I was just floating out the back. Unfortunately, I was out of sync the whole time and didn't really have a chance to battle it out with him."

Like Tuesday, the morning began with the ocean invisible from the judges tower due to a heavy layer of fog. Unlike Tuesday, no 4-hour delay was needed, as the fog lifted enough for competition to begin. In gray and overcast conditions, the Quiksilver Pro France wound its way to the final.

Jordy Smith, returning from injury, was just stoked to make it to the semifinal but came up against a fit and focused Wilson.

"I've had some good momentum going over the past few events, and I surfed some pretty tough heats in this event," Wilson said after the final. "The final two heats, the one against Jordy [Smith] especially, were my best two performances of the whole event."

JoliIt was a battle in the final between Medina and Wilson.

The final wasn't exactly incident-free. Wilson and Medina had paddling hassles for the first two waves of the final. Neither surfer wanted to pull back, but in the end, both did. Medina got the first left, but there was another clash late in the heat that could have been called an interference (it wasn't). Wilson thought he'd been hindered by Medina, but the judges didn't make the call.

"It is a bit frustrating," Wilson said. "It's a tough way to lose, and I thought the interference was there. I wasn't exactly happy with that, but I just have to move on. It does feel good to be in a final in my first year on tour. Those were ideal conditions for Gabriel with a left, with the wind coming into it. My tactics first were to stick to the rights, but then the tide filled in and they got wonky so I just went and surfed the lefts with him. I had my chance on a wave that was looking like a good nine or even a 10, but I fell on the air. It happens."

While Wilson was disappointed with second place, Medina was soaking up the attention.

"I can't believe I'm standing here with the trophy," he said with a huge grin across his face. "I feel so great. This is my second comp on the tour."

JoliJulian Wilson made a final in his first year on tour. He wasn't thrilled, however, about losing to a guy in his second event on tour.

Medina came onto the tour via the midyear rotation a few weeks ago.

"Julian was surfing pretty good, and I just found my last wave and I turned the heat with only 2 minutes to go. I'm pretty stoked," he said, laughing.

Medina and Wilson are both members of the Nike 6.0 team, and if you look at Wednesday's quarterfinals, their teammates, Michel Bourez and Alejo Muniz, were right there with them. Nike had a big support effort behind its guys here in France -- a team house equipped with a gym, a chef and even a physiotherapist if he was needed. It might seem like overkill, but all four Nike 6.0 guys in the top 34 made it to the quarters.

Talk of a Slater world title was lost in Wednesday's final between two tour rookies. Slater's fifth-place finish, Taj Burrow's loss in the quarters and Jordy Smith's semifinal appearance have tightened the ratings once again. According to ASP tour manager Renato Hickel, the world title race could be done by the Rip Curl Search in San Francisco but could go all the way to the Billabong Pro in Hawaii. With three events left on this year's World Tour, things are getting interesting. And the young guys are making their marks.

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE FINAL RESULTS:
1 Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.00
2 Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.10

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 19.57 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 7.00
SF 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 18.50 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.55

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.17 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.50
QF 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.66 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 8.60
QF 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.26 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 13.77
QF 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.00 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 3.54

ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (after completion of Quiksilver Pro France):
1. Kelly Slater (USA) 50,150 pts
2. Owen Wright (AUS) 43,900 pts
3. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 35,900 pts
4. Taj Burrow (AUS) 34,450 pts
5. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 34,000 pts

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