“There’s a difference between a 10 and a Perfect 10,” said Chris Cote about John John Florence’s high-flying, stratospheric alley-oop, “and that was a Perfect 10.”
It went down during the Semifinals at the Surf City El Salvador Pro on the cobblestoned, reeling righthander of Punta Roca. John, matched up against Matthew McGillivray, kicked off the heat with some smaller, at least for him, scores: a 6.17 and a 7.50.
But then, JJF found the ramp he was looking for.
He took off from the top of the point, spotted a launchable lip down the line, put the pedal to the metal, hit the ramp, and went soaring. This time, he opted for the oop. No reverse. No straight air. No boned-out tweak. Just the tried-and-true frontside rotation.
Related: Is This John Florence’s Year to Take the World Title?
Then, talk about flow. After the landing, he went straight into turns, no boggle.
No hesitation from the judges. All five gave it a 10.
McGillivray had no chance; but damn, did he put up a good fight. And he did so all event, putting up a third-place finish – his second of the season, following the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. The South African, however, still sits down at 17th on the rankings.
At the previous event, the Shiseido Tahiti Pro, JJF nearly dropped another Perfect 10 for a super technical tube, including a supremely well navigated, bucking bronco wrangle over the foam ball. But that one came in just short. No Yeti cooler that time. Gabriel Medina and Tatiana Weston-Webb went home with two of those that time.
In El Salvador, John continued his dominance with a win over Yago Dora – also someone who, throughout the event, was explosive above the lip – in the Final, his first victory since Pipe in 2020. And now, he’s locked into the Final Five for the WSL Finals at Lowers come September 6th-14th. It’ll be his first appearance in the new format.
John hasn’t won a Title since 2017; but this year, he’s looking lethal.
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