Day 3 of the Fiji Pro belonged — just like the day before it — to Kelly Slater and Dane Reynolds, the former once again flirting with perfection, the latter combining his blistering backhand attack with tunnelling finesse to topple current world no. 1 Adrian de Souza. Dane, ever the gentleman, even felt bad for the Brazilian afterwards:

“I feel bad for Adriano… I didn’t earn my spot here, I was given it by whoever decides that, and so it’s a little bit funny. They dedicate their lives to it. But I’m here to defend, I don’t wanna say my reputation, but someone gave me the place here and I want to defend their decision. Without the rankings mattering to me, and it meaning so much to them, it’s heartbreaking. They’re trying to win world titles.”

Kelly posted a total of 18.57 in his Round 3 heat, Dane wasn’t far behind with 18.34. Joel Parkinson, Adam Melling, Jeremy Flores and Ricardo Christie had been the standouts of the remaining Round 2 heats, Christie unfortunately finding himself in the same heat as Flores and failing to advance.

Above is Dane’s 9.57, below is Kelly’s 9.90, and below that are the day’s highlights and results.

Fiji Pro Round 2 Results:

Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.50 def. Inia Nakalevu (FJI) 6.87

Heat 2: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 10.70 def. Aca Ravulo (FJI) 8.86

Heat 3: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.00 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 14.10

Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.70 def. Jay Davies (AUS) 9.47

Heat 5: Owen Wright (AUS) 10.10 def. Aritz Aranburu (ESP) 9.03

Heat 6: Julian Wilson (AUS) 12.93 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 10.67

Heat 7: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.67 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 12.70

Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.00 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 8.87

Heat 9: Adam Melling (AUS) 17.60 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 12.50

Heat 10: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 12.27 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 5.70

Heat 11: Jeremy Flores (AUS) 17.70 def. Ricardo Christie (NZL) 17.47

Heat 12: Kolohe Andino (USA) 16.70 def. Matt Banting (AUS) 12.30

Fiji Pro Round 3 Results:

Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.16 def. Keanu Asing (HAW) 6.36

Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.93 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 13.34

Heat 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.57 def. Fredrick Patacchia Jr. (HAW) 10.17

Heat 4: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 15.36 def. Nat Young (USA) 13.94

Heat 5: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 12.93 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.80

Heat 6: Dane Reynolds (USA) 18.34 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 13.64

Upcoming Fiji Pro Round 3 Match-Ups:

Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)

Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)

Heat 9: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)

Heat 10: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)

Heat 11: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA)

Heat 12: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)