By Melody Gross 
The Portuguese has already achieved the best career result in the Challenger series
This Friday, Frederico Moraes secured his presence on the final day of the Ballito Pro, in what is already the best result of the Portuguese surfer’s career on the Challenge Series circuit. Kikas has been in the spotlight at the South African Grand Prix and this performance will already ensure a significant and significant rise in the rankings, whose last top 10 finish guarantees a place on the 2024 World Tour.
With the guarantee of the semi-finals, where he will face the young American Cady Mattson, Frederico will have at least 12,530 points in the standings. Something that temporarily puts him in fourth place. If he goes to the final, Kikkas will advance to third place in the standings. If that happens, he already knows that he will leave Paleto in that position, regardless of the outcome of the final match.
However, Frederico could still be overtaken by two opponents. If he loses in the semi-finals against Kady Mattson, he will be overtaken in the rankings by North America. In this scenario for third place, if the final victory goes to Joan Duro, he will also be bested by the experienced French surfer. However, the worst that could happen was Palito being left in sixth place, during the qualifying cut-off.
Of the surfers in the semi-finals, only Cole Hoechmand beats Kekas in the ranking, which is already out of reach for the Portuguese surfer. And the American only needs to go to the final to ensure that he will leave Paleto at the top of the standings, defeating Australian Jacob Wilcox, who was eliminated today from the quarter-finals.
After finishing fifth in France in 2021, and another fifth in the same race, last year, Frederico Morais, 31, knows this is his best performance since the Challenger Series circuit began three years ago. Winning this race would be an achievement on par with the victory achieved at the QS10000 in Haleiwa, Hawaii, in 2019.
With three stages already contested on this circuit and three others in contention (California, Ericera and Saquarema), Frederico, who arrived at the event in 10th place in the standings, is well prepared to return to the surfing world’s elite, having left mid-season for 2022. Another strong result this season may be enough to formalize this place on the World Tour in 2024.
By Joao Vasco Nunes