As conditions continued to improve this afternoon, the recent finalist of the US Open of Surfing Huntington Beach presented by Shiseido Gabriela Bryan picked up right where she left off and annihilated her very first wave to put a near-perfect 9.50 on the scoreboard early. She quickly picked up another gem for a 7+ and definitely ended her competition's hopes of catching up with her dominating form.
"The runner-up finish at Huntington gave me a lot of confidence," she said. "Coming to Portugal I kind of had to forget about that and start from scratch again and I'm just trying to make as many heats as I can here. You're trying not to look at the rankings cause there's still so much competition ahead but it's always in the back of your head of course."