Special coverage presented by Crown Uruguay y Punta Surf House

New WSL finals are approaching and much can be said, these are the most important keys for DUKEsurf.com.

They continue below:

1: The story

On January 28, 2020, the former executive of the super famous television presenter Oprah Winfrey took over as CEO of the WSL.

Given that the famous 2019 final between Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina at Pipe had been the most watched series in history, Mr. Logan said he wanted to repeat the formula, with the explicit aim of achieving more views.

This is how the WSL Finals were created, meaning that the final is not generated because the points during the year were so close that everything ended up being defined in a final series, the last one of the year; but rather by inventing a final in which the top 5 compete.

This year is the second time that it has been held. Last year Medina and Moore, who were the leaders in the ranking, were crowned champions.

2: The format

The top 5 of the year, men and women, compete. Respecting the ranking, the following surfers compete in a man-to-man series:
-The fifth against the fourth
-The winner of the previous series against the third
-The winner of the previous series against the second
- The winner of the previous series against the first.

The final match, between the number one seed and the player who has reached the grand final, is a best-of-three game. That is, the player who wins two matches is the world champion.

3: The controversy

Those who consider this format unfair point out that a year's worth of results on a wide variety of waves should not be traded for one day of competition where anything can happen, especially in surfing, a sport that depends on weather conditions. The other point they make is that the explicit rationale for the WSL was to gain more viewers and no sporting justice was invoked.

Those in favor of this format basically say that it is good that the title is always decided in the water and not by a calculator (as has often happened when one surfer has a big advantage over another) and they also point out that whoever wants to win must pass that maximum "dramatic" test of pressure, and not succumb to it.

4: The Latin Effect for Lowers Repetition

The WSL promised that the location of the finals would rotate throughout history, meaning that the location of a final would never be repeated. But El Salvador appeared in the scheme! And, with the good negotiation of the Central American nation, the WSL undid its promise and chose Lowers to repeat.

In this way, Latin America played a leading role not only in the definition of the title but mainly in the WSL being left in a false position, breaking its promise and repeating Lowers as the final.

5: Favoritism often prevails

Only two series in the 2021 finals did not go in favor of the favoritism: Filipe Toledo beat Italo Ferreira in match 3 and Johanne Defay beat Steph Gilmore in match 1 of the women.

Among the women, the final was extended to three matches because Tatiana Weston beat Carissa in the first but then the Hawaiian recovered and won the following series.

Medina left no doubt and won both of his series in one go to claim the third championship.