Steph Gilmore surfed from the quarterfinals onwards as if she really wanted to win her seventh world title. She caught a lot of waves, destroyed them with the grace and wonderful style that characterizes her.

Before the event, she had never surfed JBay, the wave seems like it was made to measure by God; watching her surf there is a delight to the eyes.

“I had a moment where I was like, ‘This is cool, I can ride these waves by myself.’ There was one wave that I just rode because the dolphins were on it and I wanted to share them. I tried to relax in every heat. I feel like I just had to repeat what I was doing in the previous heats,” Gilmore said after the final.

The Australian reiterated that her secret was to relax, not think about the draw, the scores, and have fun. “In every series there is a new beginning and that was my challenge (…) This is a very important victory for me,” she concluded.

This is Gilmore's third win of the year and what the rankings show is that she and Peterson have separated themselves from the rest of the world for what remains:

While the Australian has said she took the event in stride, her surfing and the amount of waves she caught do not reflect this. In recent years, when the title slipped from her grasp, this was not seen, she was seen catching few waves and often making unforced errors. If she keeps this up, the title will be hers, and it will be her seventh, finally tying Layne Beachley.

As for Peterson, just like Tatiana Weston in the semis, they are falling under the pressure of becoming world champions.

The tour now continues in Huntington Beach for the ladies when the US Open of Surfing takes place from July 30 to August 5.

Final results
1st: Stephanie Gilmore
2nd: Lakey Peterson
3rd: Bianca Buitendag and Tatiana Weston-Webb
5th: Coco Ho, Johanne Defay, Bronte Macaulay and Sage Erickson