Advertisement

Tatiana Weston-Webb and Filipe Toledo win U.S. Open of Surfing titles

Tatiana Weston-Webb lets out a victory yell after winning the women's title at the U.S. Open of Surfing on Sunday in Huntington Beach.
(Harrison Hill / Los Angeles Times)
Share via

Rising above a forest of umbrellas and a horde of fans at Huntington Beach on Sunday afternoon was the face of Tatiana Weston-Webb, tears of happiness flowing from her eyes and screams of elation bursting from her lungs.

Filipe Toledo was in the same position soon after, parading across the beach with a Brazilian flag draped across his shoulders and two fingers raised in the air to represent the number of U.S. Open of Surfing titles he now owns.

The two were partaking in a surfing tradition in which champions don’t touch the sand on the shore after paddling in from their winning heats.

Advertisement

It was the first time in Weston-Webb’s young Championship Tour career that she earned the right to be hoisted up in celebration. The 20-year-old Hawaiian surprised many, including herself, with the victory.

“These final heats, I was just so on point that it did shock me a little,” Weston-Webb said. “I’m a really emotional person, and I couldn’t hold [tears] back because I’ve been dreaming about this moment for my whole life.”

Before the Open, Weston-Webb had reached the finals in a Championship Tour event only once, when she finished second in the 2015 Roxy Pro in France. In Sunday’s final, she defeated fellow Hawaiian Malia Manuel, who last won the Open in 2008 at the age of 14.

Advertisement

On her way to the final, Weston-Webb upset hometown favorite and then-No. 1 Courtney Conlogue in the quarterfinals. It was a back-and-forth battle between the two, with Conlogue ripping a backside hook late for the best single-wave score of the day. It still wasn’t enough to overcome a pair of high-scoring waves by Weston-Webb.

Weston-Webb described that heat as a “defining” moment.

“Beating Courtney, I got so much confidence and thought ‘OK, I’m going to take it all the way,’” she said. “I knew that I needed to put together an almost perfect heat [against her], and I knew I needed to surf my heart out, and that’s what I did.”

Advertisement

Weston-Webb’s triumph shook up the Championship Tour rankings, vaulting her to No. 4 from No. 6 and unseating Conlogue to give Tyler Wright, who lost to Manuel in the semifinals, the top spot.

Huntington Beach local Kanoa Igarashi is the first Asian-American surfer to qualify for the World Surf League’s Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour. 

In the men’s Qualifying Series event, Toledo hoisted his second Open trophy in three years. Oddly, the 21-year-old was one of the older competitors left on Sunday. He beat 18-year-old local Kanoa Igarashi in the semis and 17-year-old Australian Ethan Ewing in the finals.

Toledo, known for his prowess in Huntington Beach’s unique swells, won here in 2014 but was vanquished in last year’s semifinal round.

“I was really frustrated last year with my result,” he said. “This year, I was really confident and feeling really good, not under pressure.”

Ewing’s presence in the finals was unexpected. He qualified as a wild card and earlier in the week lost in the juniors semifinals, where he was heavily favored. Yet, he beat 2015 World Champion Adriano de Souza and other accomplished surfers in the pro event to snag second place overall.

Advertisement

“I wasn’t expecting to even make it to the quarters,” Ewing said. “Filipe is probably one of my favorite surfers in the world, so to have a final with him is amazing. I won’t forget it anytime soon.”

renee.griffin@latimes.com

@ReneeMGriffin

Advertisement