Fans stormed down to witness their favorite surfers dominate their debuts with Gabriel Medina, Yago Dora, Tatiana Weston-Webb, Italo Ferreira, and Luana Silva all thriving under the pressure. Current World No. 1 duo of Caitlin Simmers and John John Florence faced early elimination scares but held firm to carry yellow into more head-to-head duels. Only Johanne Defay was sent out of Saquarema early as the Final 5 race heats up in South America.
