Aussies in wipeout at Bells
Australia’s hopes of a local winner at Bells Beach are over after defending champion Ethan Ewing and Victorian teenager Ellie Harrison bowed out in the quarter-finals.
Ewing lost to Cole Houshmand, who opened their quarter-final on Sunday with a monster score of 9.07 that was all the more intimidating because of the conditions.
Ewing started with a 6.0 and Houshmand followed up with a scratchy 4.77 that was decisive when the reigning Bells champion had a frustrating and fruitless wait for a decent wave in flat conditions.
“That was crazy,” Houshmand said. “Sitting that long for 30 minutes felt like two years out there. I was kind of tripping but stoked it went my way.
“He’s one of the best surfers in the world. He won this event last year, so I tried not to put too much pressure on myself. Ethan’s been dropping huge scores all event. At some point in the heat I was like ‘I just have to ride a wave and take something to put the pressure on’.”
Morgan Cibilic, the other Australian in the men’s quarter-finals, was pipped 12.17 to 12.16 by good mate Matthew McGillivray.
“I wish we got more waves in that heat,” South African McGillivray said.
World No.1 Johanne Defay was too good for Harrison, 18, as the Frenchwoman won 12.13 to 10.86. Harrison only secured her spot in the competition after winning wildcard trials at Winkipop.
American Danielle Collins upset the odds to win the Miami Open when she beat Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 7-5 6-3 to claim her first WTA 1000 title in her final season on the tour.
Collins, who is No.53 in the world, is the lowest-ranked woman to win the event, which is her biggest title.
The 30-year-old announced in January that she would be retiring from the sport at the end of this year and her unexpected run to the final and victory over the world No.4 delighted the home crowd.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to win my first 1000 title,”
Collins said. “It means the world to me.”
She will rise to 22 in the new WTA rankings on Monday.
It was a second-straight loss in a Miami final for Rybakina, who missed out to Petra Kvitova last year.
Both players looked strong on their serve in the early exchanges but Florida’s Collins had to work hardest to hold her serve.
She saved four break points as she hung on for 4-3 and showed resistance again to deny a break point at 5-5 with a brilliant backhand winner after a long rally.
Collins broke at the end of the first set when she capitalised on a third break point to win the set when Rybakina went long.
Then the momentum shifted heavily to Collins when she broke Rybakina’s first service game of the second set.