Tatiana Weston-Webb tries to glue a broken heart in the World Surfing Championship final

Tatiana Weston-Webb advanced to the final of the decisive round of the World Surfing Championship last year, a best-of-three clash with Hawaii’s Carissa Moore. She won the first heat, was surpassed in the second and in the third she surfed the wave that could have given her the title. She did almost everything right, but lost her balance in the submission and added her tears to the sea foam.

“I got so close. And I believed so much that it was going to happen that it was a…”, he told the Sheet the gaúcha, pausing in search of the best words. “It broke my heart a little bit. But now I’m here again, with this opportunity again. I just want to surf my best. I’m feeling really good going into these finals. I’m super excited.”

Back at the stage called the Finals, in the waves of Lower Trestles, in San Clemente, in the United States, she believes that the fraught pain of 2021 can work as fuel. “I think it works, yes. I could see that I got so close that I can get close again. I’m already close, right? I would really like to win this title”, she said.

Weston-Webb, this time, has a slightly longer path in the pursuit of conquest. Third place in the ranking, she enters the second round, against the winner of the duel between the fourth, the Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy, and the fifth, the Australian Stephanie Gilmore. If she wins, she will face Frenchman Johanne Defay, second, for the right to rematch with Carissa Moore, first.

Last year, as second in the ranking, Tatiana entered the Finals in the semifinals. This time, to reach the title, she will have to compete in four or five heats – the final, again, is best of three. Everything in Lower Trestles will be decided in one day, which takes breath from anyone who is not ranked first or second.

“I think that four heats is pretty heavy. Five, even more. But I’m preparing myself a lot physically for that, to run four heats a day and to win those four heats. I’ll be ready”, said the Brazilian, who was worried also in clearing the mind before the dispute in California.

Instead of boarding well in advance, he preferred to spend a period where he lives, in Kauai, Hawaii. It was only last Wednesday (31) that he left for San Clemente for the final dispute of the season, which will take place on the day of best sea conditions between next Thursday (8) and Friday of the following week (16).

Tatiana’s waves have known “since she was nine years old”, so there’s no need for a deep acclimatization. The opponents she needs to beat she also knows well, like her friend Defay and her tormentor Moore. Against Carissa, the gaúcha has been in four disputes since the 2021 final, with two wins for each side.

“I ended up doing a lot of heats with her, I surfed a lot against her this year. I think she’s my best opponent on the tour. And it’s the girl [de] that, of course, I need to win to get to the title, right? I have to win. That’s it. There’s not much to talk about. She’s an amazing girl, I really like her surfing, I like watching, but I like winning heats against her more.”