Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing seek to end 11-year Australian drought at WSL finals | Martin Pegan

JRobinson and Ethan Ewing are both looking to put a string of near-wins behind them and break Australia’s 11-year drought of men’s surfing titles when the World Surf League finals kick off on Friday.

The duo finished in the top five of the WSL rankings, securing a ticket to the all-or-nothing event in California. Their hopes are pinned on fellow countrywoman Molly Picklum in the women’s final.

Robinson is in top form and is through to the final. He won a silver medal in surfing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Teahupo’o, Tahiti, where he was stranded when the fearsome wave went unusually quiet in the deciding lap. He then finished third in the Fiji Pro.

The 26-year-old retained third place in the WSL rankings after victories at Sunset Beach and Margaret River, and reached the final at Lower Trestles for the third year in a row, marking another shot at a groundbreaking world championship.

“I have to be world champion because that’s just the ultimate feeling,” Robinson told the World Surf League. “And I will be, one day. I just live for those moments, when someone else is trying to fight me.”

The WSL finals format involves a series of knockout battles held on a single day, starting with the No. 4 and No. 5 ranked surfers based on the end of season rankings. The winner of the opening heat will face the No. 3 ranked surfer in another knockout, and so on until the last two remaining surfers face off in a best-of-three decider.

Robinson failed to reach the final when he was seeded second in 2022 and was eliminated in the opening round last year. Now, however, he will face either fourth-seeded Ewing or Brazilian Italo Ferreira in the second round.

Griffin Colapinto moved one spot above Robinson in the WSL rankings after winning a key semi-final between the pair at the Fiji Pro last month, an event the American went on to win. Two-time world champion John John Florence is assured of a title challenge in his first WSL finals appearance since the format was introduced in 2021.

Ewing defeated Joao Chianca and Colapinto in last year’s final to advance from third place to the best-of-three deciding round, but lost to Filipe Toledo, giving the Brazilian two straight titles.

Last year, however, the Queenslander was not up to the task after suffering multiple fractures in a defeat in Tahiti just weeks before the WSL finals. This time, he will travel to California with a clearer head.

“Last year I didn’t have much time to prepare, I was quite stiff and sore and not really in surf shape because I was out of the water for that time,” Ewing told the Australian Associated Press. “This year I’ve been competing all year and I feel really good.

“I’m very excited… at the beginning of the season I was struggling mentally, but I feel like I’ve improved throughout the year and I’m in a really good frame of mind now.”

Brazilians have won all but one of the men’s world titles, with Hawaiian Florence taking the second in a row in 2016-17, since Australian Mick Fanning won the last of his three titles in 2013.

While the South American nation has taken the mantle from Australia and the US to become the men’s surfing powerhouse, 2019 champion Ferreira is the only Brazilian in this year’s men’s final. Yago Dora and three-time winner Gabriel Medina finished just outside the top five, while Toledo has taken a break from the tour.

The men’s field looks wide open, especially with Toledo out. Robinson is probably better suited to the more powerful waves that occur on breaks like Teahupo’o, but Ewing is confident he can take full advantage of the final WSL finals, held at Lower Trestles before the event moves to Cloudbreak in Fiji.

“I really enjoy surfing the wave and I would say it suits my surfing,” Ewing said. “It’s a pretty competitive wave and everyone is really good at this level, so it really suits everyone, but I really enjoy it. I just have to do a better job than I did last year and try to do even better.”

Australia has enjoyed more success on the women’s tour of late, with Stephanie Gilmour winning eight world titles since 2007, including her last in 2022. However, she retired from competition this year.

Picklum was knocked out of last year’s WSL final in the opening round after being ranked fourth but losing to Caitlin Simmers. American Caroline Marks took the women’s title.

The 21-year-old Australian made a scorching start to this season with a perfect 10-wave in a semifinal at the Pipe Pro en route to second overall, followed by a win at Sunset Beach. Picklum rounded out the regular season with a third-place finish in Fiji to once again enter the WSL Finals as the No. 4 seed.

She kicks off the women’s final against Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, with the winner taking on Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy. Marks, the Olympic gold medallist, is ranked No. 2 this year, while her compatriot Simmers is set to take the top spot in the winner-takes-all final.

Finalists World Surf League 2024

• Gentlemen: John John Florence, Griffin Colapinto, Jack Robinson, Ethan Ewing, Italo Ferreira

• Women: Caitlin Simmers, Caroline Marks, Brisa Hennessy, Molly Picklum, Tatiana Weston-Webb