By Lincoln Feast
June 13 (Reuters) - Italy's Leonardo Fioravanti claimed his first surfing world tour victory with a win at the Surf City El Salvador Pro on Saturday, while Hawaiian veteran Carissa Moore took out her second straight event.
The Roman journeyman, who recovered from a fractured back after being slammed at Hawaii's Pipeline in 2015 and just missed out on a first win there last year, surged to number three in the 2026 world tour rankings with the win.
"It doesn't feel real. It's so many
years of believing, never giving up," the two-time Olympian said, choking back tears. "That final last year really broke my heart, but at the same time I never gave up, I kept my head high."
"I did feel like my surfing was there, but it's one thing is to surf good, another thing to beat the best in the world."
Fioravanti started strongly with big first-up scores in most of his heats through the event, and the final was no different, notching up an 8.33 out of a possible 10 as he repeatedly ripped into big turns on a long, fast right-hand wall at the venue of Punta Roca.
The 28-year-old backed it up with a 7.00, leaving rival Italo Ferreira needing a two-wave total of 15.33 out of 20.
The Brazilian, surfing with eight stitches in his knee after being hit by a recreational surfer before the competition, got back in the fight with some sharp vertical hits for a 7.50 but could not find a second decent score and ended with a 10.90 two-wave total.
Ferreira, who held onto the yellow rankings leader jersey, earlier fought back for a semifinal win over countryman Gabriel Medina, while Fioravanti won a tense semi over childhood friend Kanoa Igarashi from Japan.
Brazilian men now hold five of the six top spots on the rankings as they head to their home event at Saquarema, near Rio de Janeiro, for stop six on the 12-stop tour.
In the women's event, Moore - who won last month in New Zealand - overcame good friend and 2026 ratings leader Gabriela Bryan in their semifinal to take on Australia's Tyler Wright, who took down 2025 world champion Molly Picklum.
In the final, Moore took a decisive lead with an 8.33 for a powerful three-turn combination on a clean overhead wall. Wright fought back with her own 7.67 for a series of hacks on her forehand and took a narrow lead with a follow-up 6.17, only for Moore to reclaim it with a 6.77 and hold on for her 30th world tour victory.
Ahead of this year's tour, talk was about whether the returning veterans like Moore and eight-times world champion Stephanie Gilmore would be able to foot it with the crop of young women who dominated in their absence. Five events in and the old guard has won four of them.
"Before we paddled out, we were in the locker room, and I was like, Tyler, this is like the old days, this is awesome," Moore, an Olympic gold medallist and five-times world champion, said after her win.
"It's really cool to see the veterans kind of make another push this year and take some finals and some wins, and I'm just, you know, inspired by both my generation and the new generation. I think it's a really good combo for women surfing right now."
(Reporting by Lincoln Feast; Editing by William Mallard)
