Kelly is King

In an interview following his convincing victory over Sebastian Zietz in the quarterfinals of the Volcom Fiji Pro yesterday, Kelly Slater made a simple statement, "I want to win this contest." It sounded harmless enough, but if you watched his heat before the interview, you knew it was Kelly time. Slater posted a perfect heat in the quarters, putting up a pair of 10-point barrel rides in the span of three minutes that surely left his rookie opponent dizzied out the back. We've seen it time and time again; when Kelly wants it bad enough, he's unstoppable. Add in the fact that he has more experience at Cloudbreak than anyone else on tour, and I didn't see a way Kelly could lose. And he didn't disappoint.

Kelly got busy early against John John Florence in the semis and went on to post an 18.17 to advance to the finals, where he met Mick Fanning. Fanning had just eeked out heats in the quarters and semis, and I didn't feel like he was much of a threat to Kelly. But nobody would have been a threat to the master, as Slater posted yet another perfect 10 along the way to a 19.80 score in the final heat. It was like watching a movie you know the ending to, but still being enthralled every step of the way. That's the kind of surfer and entertainer that Kelly Slater is.

With his victory in Fiji, Kelly moves up into a place he knows better than anyone in the history of surfing, the top spot in the World Tour rankings. He currently enjoys a narrow lead over Mick, who has been incredibly consistent this season with finishes of third, fifth, third and second. Jordy Smith followed up his win in Rio with a fifth in Fiji, good enough to put him third in the ranks. We've now got a quick turnaround for the next event, the Oakley Pro Bali, as the waiting period starts on June 18th.