It’s looking like the Tahiti Pro will open with serious swell. Photo: Matt Dunbar//WSL
After a prolonged summer vacation, the Championship Tour is finally back. Next up on the docket is the Tahiti Pro, marking the start of the season’s downhill sprint to the title showdown at Pipeline.
A lot has happened during the CT recess: Kelly Slater revived his career for the umpteenth time, Cloud 9 became a part of the tour, and surfing’s principal institutions have been feuding over control of the Olympic pathway. Meanwhile, Leo Fioravanti has been soaking in his historic moment atop the WSL rankings.
The Tahiti Pro kicks off on August 8 with a window that runs through the 18th. Here are five heats to keep an eye on.
Kelly Slater vs Eli Hanneman
Kelly Slater can collect WSL wildcards for as long as he pleases. He’s more than earned the right with five Teahupo’o wins. Plus he gets to surf one of his favorite waves and draw eyeballs to the broadcast — a win-win for the GOAT and the WSL.
On paper, Slater looks like a clear favorite against Eli Hanneman, who has struggled mightily this year. But Slater, who got hip surgery late last year, hasn’t surfed a CT heat in more than a year. In the WSL’s new elimination format, there is no room for error. Slater won’t have time to shake off any rust as a hungry Hanneman is desperate to climb the rankings into a requalification position. But this is a dangerous heat for Hanneman.
If there is anything that gives Slater an advantage at this stage in his surfing life, it’s bigger, gnarlier Teahupo’o. Lucky for him, the forecast is looking like it’s going to provide some massive swell for the first several days of the waiting period. This first heat will be telling. Hanneman will try to eliminate a rusty Slater early. But if Slater gets in a rhythm, no one will want to face him.
Gabriel Medina vs the winner of Kelly Slater and Eli Hanneman
No one will be watching that Slater versus Hanneman matchup more closely than Gabriel Medina. The winner of that heat is slated to face the three-time champ in round two.
Whoever gets out of that round one heat will have their hands full with Medina. He’s proven himself time and time again in Tahiti, winning the CT event twice, making six finals, and earning a bronze medal there at the 2024 Olympics.
Medina is coming off his worst result of the season, a 17th place in Brazil that dropped him two spots in the rankings to fourth. If he wants to get his pursuit of a fourth world title back on track, he can’t let that happen again in Tahiti. Few, if anyone, can lock into a competitive mode like Medina can — best of luck to Slater and Hanneman.
What version of Slater will we see in Tahiti? Photo: Ed Sloane//WSL
Tya Zebrowski vs Erin Brooks
Tya Zebrowski entered the season as the youngest-ever surfer on tour. It’s no surprise that she struggled against competitors with more years of professional surfing than Zebrowski has on this planet. But the 15-year-old Tahitian finally cracked the code in Brazil with a finals appearance and is riding momentum as the tour heads to her home break. She’ll get a chance to show the world what she knows about her backyard reef.
Erin Brooks was supposed to break out during her sophomore year on tour, but has yet to obtain a noteworthy result. Her performances have been rather puzzling, far below the level of surfing that she’s capable of. She’ll have a tough matchup against the Zebrowski, a local, but Brooks has proven herself in heavy left-hand reefs. She won Fiji in 2024 and placed fifth in Tahiti last year. The clock is ticking for Brooks to find her footing.
The winner will have an in-form Carissa Moore waiting in round two.
Leo Fioravanti vs the winner of Ramzi Boukhiam and Oscar Berry
With a win in El Salvador and a runner-up finish in Brazil, Leo Fioravanti has found himself where no other Italian has before as the rankings leader. Even when you take the continent as a whole, the last time a European won a world title was Martin Potter, who surfed for Great Britain, in 1989. Fioravanti will depend on a good result in Tahiti to fend off the pack of five Brazilians hot on his tail.
He’ll face the winner of Ramzi Boukhiam and Oscar Berry. Even though Boukhiam has struggled this season, he’s the clear favorite in the heat. He made a name for himself as a barrel specialist in Tahiti, where in 2024 he took out Kelly Slater with a near-perfect 9.8 tube, eventually falling to Italo Ferreira in the semifinals. And he’ll face Berry, who has no competitive experience at Teahupo’o and hasn’t passed a single heat this season.
If the round two heat is indeed between Fioravanti and Boukhiam, it will be interesting. The two, known as good friends on tour, will have to put their friendship aside. Boukhiam, currently ranked 33rd, needs results to reach the top 22 and requalify. He could set back Fioravanti’s title run if he knocks the Italian out of the event early.
Sawyer Lindblad vs the winner of Vahine Fierro and Isabella Nichols
Despite sitting 19th in the rankings, Vahine Fierro is always the favorite to win at Teahupo’o. The 26-year-old Tahitian won the event as a wildcard in 2024 and placed fifth last year. Isabella Nichols will have her hands full trying to get out of that round-one heat.
But if Fierro advances, the next matchup becomes interesting. She’ll face Sawyer Lindblad. The 20-year-old Californian has been the surprise of the 2026 season, winning in Brazil and placing second in New Zealand, good for third in the overall rankings. If Lindblad can prove herself in the next two events — the consequential reefs of Tahiti and Fiji — you’ll have to consider her a true contender for the title. But first, she’ll have to (likely) take down the queen of Teahupo’o.
