Jan Juc surfing sensation Xavier Huxtable entered this year’s Rip Curl Pro as a wildcard entry, just hoping to have fun.
He did more than that.
The 20-year-old defeated all-time great Kelly Slater and then world No 1 Jack Robinson before bowing out in the round of 16.
“I can’t really explain it, I’m feeling so stoked,” Huxtable said after defeating Robinson.
“I just went out there with nothing to lose, I just found a big section and tried to hit it as far as I could,” he said.
“I was lucky enough to find one early, then found another two in the priority heat and was able to tee off another couple of sections.”
Huxtable said having more first-hand knowledge of the conditions than any other surfer in the competition helped.
“It’s probably like this more often than it’s good, just big, stormy,” he said.
“I’ve surfed it a fair few times. I was just coming into it praying I’d get to surf Bells in the comp and was lucky enough to get the opportunity and found a couple, so stoked.”
Ethan Ewing went on to win the title, 40 years after his late mother Helen Lambert claimed the women’s Rip Curl Pro.
Tyler Wright claimed consecutive women’s titles.
