Cover photo: ISA/Reed

Former CT member and 2018 Hawaiian Triple Crown winner Jessé Mendes said that the WSL's format change to a three-layer system—QS, CS, and CT—was one of the key factors that forced his retirement.

The statements were collected by The Inertia from the podcast Fala papah by Ader Oliveira of AOS Mídia.

"After the tour switched to the regional system, it didn't work out for me. When you reach a level you've worked hard for over 10 years and you have to go back to low-level events that don't pay, it doesn't seem fair to me," he said, citing the Gudauskas brothers, Tomas Hermes, and Willian Cardoso as examples.

“To qualify for the Challengers, you had to compete. And back then, right in the middle of the transition, there were no 5000-point events. All the events were 1000-point. You'd reach the quarterfinals and win $100, while you paid $200 just for the entry fee, not counting accommodation and everything else.”

Hermes, who was living in Hawaii at the time, had to travel to Brazil to compete in tournaments, and fulfilling those commitments was costing him dearly. He concluded, “It was crazy. I said, ‘I’m leaving. I’ve already lived my dream.’”

After that, Mendes briefly competed for the Italian team but stated that it had not been a good idea.

He joined the WSL commentary team, which he has been part of for three years now.

 

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