How Italo Ferreira climbed the rankings to World No. 1 before the MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal

To look to improve on a six. He's got the lead. Italo needs an answer. Difficult takeoff up and under. He's got a solid hold on that rail. That's Timmy Patterson. What a heat. These guys are going blow for blow. That lead changes. There's some passion. Coach of Italo. Oh, he's got shove hits on the end. And now he's going to switch. Finish. Oh my goodness, we're seeing it all today. Entertainment. I love the stare, the posture, the energy that Italo brings to the tour. How good is this, Ross? So big. You know, the way it's actually turned up just now, obviously. Everyone lit up. There's a huge Brazilian contingency down here. They're all fired up, raising giant flags. It's pretty cool. Good energy. Love it, Ross. As we see this go to switch dance for Italo, something he's been showing us for a while. Oh, the shove it first. And then he still slams it. Oh, the resist this way so well. Look at that. He can do that switch. That's insane. That's crazy. You know? Hey, hey, come on, partner. Hey! Rainos. Loving it. And this may give, multiple waves may give the non-priority heat some opportunity for rides. Priority with Ferreira pulls into a beautiful pipe cavern, slows himself down. It spits behind him, yanks through that beautiful carve, straightens out. He will increase upon his score line right there. Well done by Italo Ferreira. Here is that 7.5. Nice paddle entry there from Italo. That's the juice right there. That's the smarts of Italo being a veteran. The barrel came from actually how deep he paddled. He paddled towards backdoor and then kicked it back to the pipe. So really good positioning on a takeoff. Pumping conditions continue. Italo in the water now, making the first barrel of the matchup against Seth Moniz as we've just started. Not as long as Jordy's, but that was a cave. So it's going to be a really interesting score to see where it goes compared to Jordy's. And a nice quick start there for Italo. Really fun matchup between him and Seth. That's a feisty one. Oh, such a classic matchup. Got regular versus goofy. The entry from Italo. What did he do well here? He got to his feet. And that's so hard to do while the wave is barreling. You know, you're standing up and this wave chases you down. So the drop is everything at pipe. It's so sketchy. Here's the response straightaway to complete the run. He'll get two runs, of course. Best right and best left will score Ferreira. He'll chop a turn to open up. Give that one a bit of treatment. Layback energy into the tube. So two maneuvers into the tunnel. Ferreira, out he'll come here. Now, once he got this section crucial for him, look how much swing he gets with these visits to the lip. And then just snaps one out in the pockets. Setting up pretty early here for a ramp section. He'll get an absolute ton of speed. He'll go back in with the hoop straight down to the flats. And then an angry snap on the transition to finish an epic response from Ferreira on the left. And it's with the panel now. Wow, that was so high. It was so lofty. Covered a lot of ground too on that air. Just, I love it. You could just see him winding up for it. It's that expectation. How big is he going to go? He went giant. And there was a lot of work that got done before that. If you think back to that performance section too, just how critical, I mean that layback jam in the pocket. And then this is that first barrel, maximizes that tube time. The damage that he got done out of this was pretty impressive. I mean, big fin release there. Following up on our second one, he knows he's done two of the same. So he gets a little bit of differentiation there with that layback and then lining up for this inside section, Stace. Yeah, like you said, Paul, he was pretty early to set it up, but you knew the earlier that set it up, the more speed and the higher he's going to get and just straight into the transition. Thanks for coming. I wondered if the 6.67 was going to get him fired up in a bad way. And to be honest, when he started that wave, it looked like he was, you know, trying his absolute hardest to get the wave going. But I was stoked to see him get to this point in the wave, still on his board, because, you know, in the warm-ups we've been seeing this. And for him to do it with the Ration, that's just, that's another level. And that's one of the best ones we've seen. Wow. He just traveled so far. The distance, right? I mean, definitely got the loft and the height there, but for me, it was just that distance travel. Just had so much speed going into it. Just carried that through the air. Looking at the left now for him. And he went huge. Get me 8.5 with his first left. So a big task in front of him to improve on that. But what that means, he's going to have to try and bring his best, which sounds pretty good in terms of what he's going to attempt to do here. Ferreira being creative, finding that cover. Nice cylindrical section for him at the moment. It's well-paced and it's poised. And then that's super extended as the leg strength and the athleticism. He'll chop one on a rail. Ramping up here. Think we know what's coming. Weave in for speed. Again, an absolute beast of an alley-oop. And he just tears in with the gouge on the face. Gives it a little kiss in the lip line to finish as well. He took that one from Ian Gouveia. That's Ian Gouveia's favorite claim, that one. Wow. He's got that alley-oop on lock. It seems like he's locked, unlocked that secret part of the wave. He just knows what the feel, he knows the section he's looking for. Perfect timing. And absolutely nails another left. So just applying even more pressure, really. He's just seen such good form. What'd you say, Stace? God, ripping, basically. I mean, a turn like that wasn't crazy, but I know the judges are going to love the drama. A little bit of a, whoa, is he going to fall moment? He didn't, of course not, but it's cool. Adds a bit of excitement to the pit. And then I think this is sort of the difference between your two veterans and your world champions. Jackson Bunch has this maneuver on tap, but he doesn't quite have the, he's only got the nine version in him at the moment. He doesn't really have the setup one. This is obviously the nine version. But he got the confidence out of the first wave to go this big on the next one. So just dialing it back a little bit, that angle of entry on this one is so much more critical than the first one. He was a little more lateral on the earlier wave, but it's still got a really high score. And I'm expecting this one to go over. So it's going to put a lot of pressure back on Kanoa. I mean, you even look at the turns that he got done out the back, but not this one, the one we just watched. I mean, he was airdropping down with the lip and it's the, when you're hitting that section out of coming out of that first barrel, it is so critical if you're putting it up straight to lip. Let's look at this air to your point, Stace. Just that entry point, just more critical. Super tail high there and just silky smooth landing straight into that layback hack. Zero downtime between the two. All right, we'll dive into it here and just make a comparison on the split screen, having a look, comparing these maneuvers in terms of height. So this on the right is the one we just saw previous. It's on the left. Yeah, pretty deadly in both directions, but definitely the left. Historically, it's been the strength for Italo. He actually does a couple of events at the surf fronts. Didn't make a lot of heats last time out. Went all the way to the final. He's close to it again here. He's in the tube, he's traveling. Out he'll come, Ferreira up to the lip. He'll hang one up, drop down to the flats again. Look how much airdrop he gets before going the layback pocket jam. Now he's thinking about building up some speed. I was wondering whether it'd be tube or air. It'll be the latter of the two options. It's a massive alley-oop, so much ground covered, and then a really cool Zorro slash, another little head dip, and a little three off the soup as well. How about that? You know, when he went up for that alley-oop, he traveled so much ground, I almost thought he was going to hit the train. I was like, holy. You see, wait till this replay goes. I mean, he traveled such a big distance in the air just then. I mean, that was pretty crazy. He's just so fired up. What a good performance, just slashing his way through these first couple of turns. Look at how much he buried the rail of the board on that second carve. Positions perfectly in this tube, absolutely stuffed, comes out, and then just gets into these dynamic turns, airdrops down. You can just tell how critically he is on those two turns, just by that pure factor of that airdrop. Throws in a Larry layback for a little bit of variety, and then this is the moment. Okay, let's just see this. He just lines his section up, hits that. I mean, he just gained so much ground, and he's getting this on lock, right? It's looking almost computer-like. It looks like we're playing Kelly Slater's pro surfer right now. It's just, he's got this on lock. It is actually insane. Let's watch super slow-mo. Shifts that weight forward, gathers a lot of speed, pops it up, and just kept the travel so far, landing completely out in the flats. But he's got it on lock now. We heard Reynos say to Italo before he went out, you've got this, you're strong, you're powerful. Let's see what he's got on this second run here. Affirmation coming in. You saw how focused he was and determined. Quite a lot of intensity as well in that facial expression from him. A lot of intensity in his surfing as well. This is really loose and nimble sort of stuff. You see just the extras he gets there like that with the tail, and again. So not opting for the barrel in this first part. And really dynamic maneuvers. Look how much release he's getting from that tail. So much squirt. He'll reverse that one out and recover. And now a setup. And he just squats for the tube and completely disappears as well. So very well managed. There's a big rangy carving snap. Another. A third from him giving it absolute elters. Loads. You think about, reminds me a bit of just a mirror image of that wave that we saw from Rio Wider with a straight cracks on the end. The tube time as well. Italo Ferreira, great chance of improving the 6.83. Yeah, big score loading, I'd say. That was so well done. I mean, sort of went to his strengths there, which was the power. That's what Reynos was telling him. You're powerful, you're strong. Doesn't try and get that first tube section. Yeah, which I think is actually super smart. I mean, he's using what, you know, Reynos said is his strength, his power. And look at it here. I mean, such a great demonstration of that. And these are not easy sections to hit. He basically grinded those couple of two turns that we just saw. He's grinded three turns. Across that lip, four. I mean, just with so much power too. They're not, you know, you can easily get mistaken between tailsides and grinding across the lip with no power, but he is doing it with power as well. So tricky to do. And then he registers, okay, I'm on my way to a good score here. Let's just stuff it in this tube. Let's not do anything too crazy here. Just get the finish, be calculated here at the end. But this is gonna be a hefty score. I mean, look at that moment. Just so critical. Here we go. This is one of those moments. He's literally grinding across the lip of that wave with so much power and acceleration. Once again, here we go. Number two. Grinds across the face of that lip as well. And you can just see how critical it is. When he lands, those fins are just disengaging and engaging again. Once again, for the third time, grinds across that lip, just looking so large and in charge and in control. And just throwing a little bit of creativity in there as well. Absolute class. Now a chance to improve again for him. So it's a low. Wants to get to the final, went there last time out to get the win. It stung a bit. Let's see how he goes about getting back there right now. He's already on excellent numbers. He's in the tube right here, behind the curtain, disappearing. Out he'll come. Darth Vader's just walked one out. The air reverse on the face, just adjusting that wetsuit cuff. There's a bit of a flex as well between the maneuvers. And now a ramp for him, Ferreira. Holy. He is having a hell time out there. Massive alley-oop again. And he'll snap the finish as well. So similar sort of stuff to what we saw before, but everything just feels even more intense, even bigger. He's locked into a sixth sense right now. I mean, he is absolutely large and in charge right now. That was such an incredible wave surfed by Italo. I mean, talk about going big or going home. I mean, he is leaving nothing on the table right now. Let me tell you, when he hits that surface deck, he is going to be one fired up human being. Let's see this wave. Let's break it down in the tube. It's the moment after this that we're all really excited about. Pops it up in the air in the most critical section of the wave and bangs off a couple of other maneuvers after this. And he's like, okay, let's line up here. Let's see what we've got. And just goes supersonic into the air. Once again, sort of a bit more critical, even if, as you will, landing in that cupped out section of the wave. And beautiful claim there. It's just stunning work. But this maneuver here, critical section of the wave, the rest of the wave at risk. You can see how difficult that landing was. Has to be joint. It's outrageous, really, from him. His approach is just mad. He's got so much amplitude, so much pop, but the audacity of where to do some of these turns, aside from just how technical, crazy big they are, they're absolutely huge. It's Oloferreira. What a second semi we're seeing. Rio Wada awaits in the final. Who's he gonna match up against? And here he is, just watching the replay there. Look at him. I mean, you would enjoy it, wouldn't you? His whole surfing life started by surfing on the lid of his father's ice chest at a young age in Valle Formosa, a little running right. And look who he's turned into, one of the best ever, as he is running into a beautiful right. Perfection on demand here at Surf Abu Dhabi. Hitting the lip well. And how about that? Rock and roll float, transitions in the flats, and drills it. Italo on fire. Just will not stop, deciding not to worry about that opening barrel. He can't stop swinging. Jams the fins out, extends it off the bottom, back over the roof again. And now styling into the end section pit. Italo putting his head down. Nice exit. Driving a big vertical. And now bonus section to throw that silky reverse that he's been greasing all event. Italo hitting that point where he could basically do anything he wants. We saw that happened in his quarter final, and he's just been building ever since. I'm really in disbelief. People are struggling, or have been struggling, to do a turn after that barrel, and he's just transitioning like there's nothing, like straight up to the bottom. There are no thoughts in his mind right now. It's just reaction to what's in front of him. It's so much speed and finesse. Probably fit about 10 turns right there, back to back. It's so impressive, the type of surfing Italo's doing right now on this right-hander. And a deep barrel. And finish it off with one more massive turn. And a blowtail reverse. Like the transitions right there, like it gives you no time to think for you to do that. So just try to apply that five times back to back, or six, I don't even know. I lost count of it, I lost track of it. That's why I don't know how he kept everything so clean. Reynos Hayes coaching Italo and Rio into this clash of the final. He puts so much love into his practice, really cares about his athletes, and doing a great job with these two different personalities. Italo jamming that one into the guts of the wave, now sits inside the pit. He's gonna enjoy that view. Ferrer now blitzing that section. Wide open canvas to play with, and he is in sync. Now stalling, waiting, that means he's looking for a little runway. Now he's got it, clear for takeoff. Ferrer launching the alley-oop. Lays into that open face wrap, and then chucks the tail out to reverse it on the end section. Italo is acting like Superman. Just threw down the eight, six, seven, now a big number heading his way on the left. And then just a pair of excellent serves to start off the heat. Intensity, how do you keep that intensity throughout? That long of a period in a wave keeps your focus throughout the whole day since 10 a.m. this morning. There's Reynos right there with the hat on. Such a kind spirit, travels with the Aloha spirit in his heart and just loves to surf as well, but this is probably as good as it gets for a coach watching this. I mean, this is so impressive from him. I mean, if I have to criticize something about this wave, right? Like he lost a little bit of time after this barrel. Wave scopes it under, you see he pushes right there and he kinda almost dig his nose, so he loses a bit of speed, so he's just a touch behind still, pushes through it. That's just being overcritical. Then it goes for a massive alley-oop straight into a beautiful layback carve. Kinda getting a release after that and finish it off with another nice reverse. That was incredible. The transition from that alley-oop to the carve was impressive. That's what we're gonna see right there. As usual, launches with 90 miles per hour, but exits out of the launch with 150 miles per hour. It's so impressive how much speed he gains a year. Forever, yeah? Got on tour and then all of a sudden he won bells and he figured out the system. Now a gold medalist, world champ, 10 CT wins and he'll ride switch. Of course. By the way, the judges are scoring this. This is part of the final. Oh my goodness, he's gotten so good at this. Oh my gosh, is he really getting barreled? He's gonna get a less barrel for sure. And for sure he saw what Cali Vos did when he switched it up in the barrel, but this is next level. The entire wave switch with his cape on, which is the Brazilian flag. And he'll get absolutely drained. That is unbelievable. Most people look so awkward riding switch. He's doing turns, he's getting barreled. And I can't wait to see what that score looks like. I mean, if you think about it, like most people wouldn't be able to do half of what he did right there in their normal stance, so. I mean, this is the future of surfing for sure. Pretty soon, surfers will be able to look just as confident in their switch stance. It's only a matter of time. What'd you think? I mean, this is awesome. What can I talk about it? Like, I can't even do that on my normal stance. Oh, that was incredible. Cat reflexes right there for him. Now he's going to push it so hard. He almost loses right there and it feels like he's going to get stuck behind. See it? That was kind of awkward. It was like, oh, am I going to make it around? And then stand still, let the boards do the talk and just finish it up with a nice little drain on the inside. Oof.