- WSL
- WSL

Day 4 of competition at the Surf Open Acapulco kicked off with the Round of 32 and progressed to finish the Round of 16. With only eight surfers left in the event, the competition is heating up.

One of the day's standouts was Argentine Leandro Usuna (ARG) who showed no signs of backing down when he won his Round 7 bout with a last-ditch effort in the dying seconds of the heat. The regular-footer stayed true to his strategy,tearing apart right-handers all the way to the beach. With Argentina looking toward the final in the World Cup on Sunday, Usuna could be revelling in a victorious weekend for himself and his country.

“We're staying at a hotel a little bit away from the whole scene, so we've got our own little kitchen and we've been cooking good food and just doing our own thing; it's helped me focus a lot,” Usuna said. “I'm super pumped up from Argentina in the World Cup, too. It motivates me and I'll even watch videos of the Argentinean people celebrating from the game before my heat and it gets me fired up.”

Another solid showing came from Matheus Navarro of Brazil, who won his Round 7 heat after he dropped a 7.77 on his last wave. The win moved him into first place, and earned him a spot in the Quarterfinals. With momentum on his side, Navarro could be one to watch on the final day.

"I'm so thankful to get through my heat and hopefully I can go to the Final," Navarro said. "I'm just going to stick to my game and focus on the lefts to do well."

Brent Dorrington (AUS) also won his Round of 16 heat. He was looking comfortable and relaxed, putting together an impressive 15.03 heat total. The Coolangatta native is the last Australian left in the event. An event win here could give him crucial points toward his 2014 Qualification Series campaign; he's currently ranked 58th.

“At the start (of the heat) there were two other Brazilian guys on the left, so I just stuck to the right with one other guy,” said Dorrington. “Luckily I got a set about three-quarters of the way into the heat, and that was my 8.83. I'm the last Aussie in the contest so I reckon the boys will go hit the pool party while I go home and relax for tomorrow.”

The Surf Open Acapulco is scheduled to run from July 8-12 and is streamed LIVE via surfopenacapulco.com.

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