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Australia's two-time world champion Tyler Wright made an epic start to the 2021 WSL season, dropping a perfect 10 in a quarter-final win over Stephanie Gilmore.
Tyler Wright dropped a perfect 10 to defeat seven-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in an epic all-Australian quarter-final at the Maui Pro in Hawaii.
Gilmore beat Wright in the final of the 2019 Maui Pro but the tables were turned in five-to-eight foot conditions at Honolua Bay.
Wright set the early pace with an 8.33 ride, before Gilmore took the two-wave lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in their heat.
But Wright finished with a flurry, pulling off a spectacular barrel before unleashing a series of sharp turns on the way to a perfect 10-point wave.
That score saw Wright defeat Gilmore 18.33 to 12.40.
"The way it set up on the reef, I was like, 'Oh, this is one of those ones that if you put yourself in the right spot it can work out really good'," Wright said of her perfect ride.
"There hadn't been one of those all day. Once I saw it, I just went with the feeling, and then I celebrated a few times along the way."
Wright's win set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown against compatriot Sally Fitzgibbons, who beat Lakey Peterson in the quarter-finals.
Four-time world champion Carissa Moore will take on either Sage Erickson or Tatiana Weston-Webb in the other semi-final.
American Courtney Conlogue, a two-time runner-up for the world title, was a big casualty of the day when she lost her round of 16 battle to Hawaiian Malia Manuel.
Wright missed almost the entire 2019 season through a post-viral illness that left her mostly bedridden for months on end.
But after nursing herself back to health and putting on 6kg to regain the muscle she lost, Wright looms as a major threat for the world title.
Wright, who won back-to-back world titles in 2016-17, said she embraced the rematch with Gilmore from last year's Maui decider.
"Steph said at the start 'rematch' and I was like, 'Let's go, it's on'," Wright said.
"I'm so engaged with surfing against the best of the best.
"And competing after such a long time out, it's been such an intriguing journey for me.
"I just love competing. I feel really lucky to be here."
The Maui Pro is the first stop of the 2021 World Surf League Championship Tour.
