To quote the philosopher James Todd Smith of Queens, New York, aka LL Cool J, “Don’t call it a comeback.” In his first Championship Tour action since 2021, wildcard Julian Wilson just took down world number one Italo Ferreira in the Round of 32 at the Gold Coast Pro. And while event wildcards wreaking havoc on elimination brackets is nothing new (Morgan Cibilic just had a solid showing at Bells last week), Wilson eliminating a top-five surfer (Jack Robinson) and then the yellow jersey holder (Ferreira) in back-to-back heats is newsworthy.
Moments after the heat, Wilson admitted he wasn’t exactly excited to face Italo once the Round of 32 matchup was set.
“He’s been dominating for a little while now, the whole time I’ve been away,” Wilson said on the beach, but he managed to “keep a clean sheet,” referencing the win streak over Ferreira that goes back to the quarterfinals of the 2015 Fiji Pro. In five matchups between the two, this was the lowest combined score in what was a pretty slow heat.
Still, Wilson got his fifth win over the former world champ by holding a soft lead down the stretch. Ferreira had no scores worth keeping until just inside 15 minutes to go and really never had much rhythm. Meanwhile, Wilson kept a slow and steady approach, using smart heat tactics like using priority to block Ferreira late – that produced his lowest heat total ever against Italo (11.33) but still nabbing a pretty notable win.
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It’s a statement win for Wilson, who’s staging his comeback (we’re not supposed to call it that) on the Challenger Series later this year — an opportunity he lobbied the WSL for after stepping away from the CT back in 2021. He’s been a prominent headliner at this week’s Gold Coast Pro for the simple fact that it’s his first event at the elite level in several years and naturally, fans are curious if the 36-year-old’s still got it.
He does.
