Lucas Vicente and Annette Gonzalez Etxabarri delivered three days of brilliant surfing to claim victory in the Ballito Open pres. by Flojos.

Surfed between Friday and Sunday (June 27-29), the Qualifying Series (QS) 2 000 event included plenty of top internationals looking to get to grips with local conditions before the main Challenger Series (CS) competition.

No family has enjoyed the conditions more than the Basque Country’s Gonzalez Etxabarri sisters.

Eighteen-year-old Annette won the Ballito Open just three days after her older sister Janire (20) grabbed the Ballito Pro Junior title. The sisters – who will both be in action during the CS event this week – are in the form of their lives on North Coast shores.

Gonzalez Etxabarri enjoyed a flawless run to her title over the weekend. She won both of her heats, as well as her quarter- and semi-finals, the latter against South Africa’s best performing surfer in the women’s draw, Durban’s Sarah Baum.

Consistent surfing gave way for her best performance of the event in the final, where she dominated against Portugal’s Teresa Bonvalot. Within seconds of the final getting underway, Gonzalez Etxabarri registered the best wave of the entire competition, a massive 8.83.

She quickly followed it up with a solid 6.17 to put her at 15 overall points and out of reach for Bonvalot.

“I’m super happy and super tired,” said Gonzalez Etxabarri, who surfed four heats on Sunday.

“I’m so excited for the Challenger Series. I had no pressure for this competition. I was just surfing and trying to do my best and I think that helped me to not think about how tired I was in the final!”

Brazilian Lucas Vicente claimed victory in the men’s bracket in what was his first event in Ballito.

Vicente’s run was not as straightforward as Gonzalez Etxabarri’s however and he was pushed all the way in a few of his heats, qualifying in second place through the Round of 32.

But he delivered when the pressure was on, knocking out Hawaiian Luke Swanson in the quarter-finals and Australian Jarvis Earle in the semis, both by less than 1.01 overall points.

That set up a final against Japan’s Keijiro Nishi, who looked in good form after knocking out local hopeful and last year’s Ballito Open winner, Durban’s Luke Thompson, in the quarter-final.

Both surfers struggled to find big scores in the final, with Vicente adding a 7.50 final wave score onto his earlier 5.27 to earn the win by more than three points.

“It feels amazing. It was a long three days, but I’m stoked and thanks to everyone back home who was waking up early to support me,” said Vicente.

“It’s my first time here in Ballito, and there’s still a long way to go with the Challenger, but a win is a win and I’m enjoying my time, doing what I love.”

Find full Ballito Open results here.

The main CS event is currently underway at Willard Beach and will be until this weekend (July 6, dependent on wave conditions), where another two Ballito Pro winners will be crowned. Follow live updates and watch a livestream of the action here.

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