Kelly Slater's 9 Point Ride at Teahupoo

Five-time Tahiti Pro winner Kelly Slater proved that he’s lost nothing of the spark that has seen him as a contender in waves of consequence across nearly four decades.

After opening with a late take-off straight into the barrel, the 54-year-old Event Wildcard built throughout his Round One heat against Eli Hanneman

to post an excellent 16.23 (out of a possible 20) heat total, virtually on the mark of the 16.20 average Slater has been able to maintain across 20 appearances at Teahupo’o.

Peaking with a 9.00 (out of a possible 10) ride that contained many trademarks of his unique style, including pumping deep in a backhand barrel with no hands on the rail, the 11-time World Champion kicked straight back into the competitive mindset that has set him apart from all others in the history of the sport.

"It's sort of like riding a bike, but you forget how gnarly Teahupo'o is," Slater said.

"You've got to just jump back on the horse out here. I won't say I started out slow, but I definitely built."

"Each wave was kind of bigger and better until I maxed out on that 9, and then I had a no-hander after that that was pretty clean. I think I had four or five waves, and most of my scores were building until the end. I don't have anything to prove here, but when you put the vest on and paddle out, you need to feel like you have something to prove, especially in waves like this."

"I also went out there trying to be relaxed and really in the moment. When you're not in the environment of competition all the time, it's not easy to stay in that mindset."

"I felt like I kind of locked back in during that heat."

Though Slater ended up taking a comfortable victory over Hanneman, it was through no lack of trying by the 23-year-old from Maui, who copped two of the day’s heaviest wipeouts.

Slater’s path doesn’t get any easier from here, next facing two-time event winner Gabriel Medina, who will be hoping to maintain a track record that rivals the GOAT.

The three-time World Champion, Medina, has appeared in the Final six times out of 10 showings in Tahiti and only placed worse than the Semifinals on two of those occasions, leading to a must-watch matchup.

Footage: WSL