The forecast had been predicting a sizeable bump in swell, and although you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would readily admit to it, there was some unspoken anticipation lingering in the humid South Pacific air. Would the swell produce legitimate Teahupoo or the G-rated imposter we’ve bore witness to in some of the comps of years past? One look out to sea come daybreak and the answer was as clear as the southeasterly sets detonating on the reef: overhead Teahupoo, in all her glory, ready for any and all takers.

With a very real swell and conditions of consequence, you would have expected a much more legitimate opener than what we saw in the morning’s first heat. In one of the lowest-scoring match-ups in years, Timmy Reyes took down (if you can call it that) Mikael Picon with a combined score of 3.90 in the new sudden-death format that sent Picon packing for France. And although Timmy may have walked away from the heat a winner, you can bet it’s a win that he’d rather not relive. Blame it on the shifty swell or the new format or sitting too far up the reef, but it’s plain hard to watch a heat like that at an event like this. Thankfully, the heats that followed lived up to their idyllic conditions.
      
It’s been said that everyone loves an underdog. Forget Rudy, Rocky, or General Motors—they don’t have shit on Tahiti’s Heairii Williams. In case you’re not up to speed on your Tahitian wildcards, Williams earned himself a slot in the event by dominating the Von Zipper trials last week in some scrotum-shriveling conditions. To add yet another notch in his belt, Williams mentioned in passing that his entire quiver consists of a single board: an aqua blue 6’0” Tokoro given to him by a friend. To repeat: this guy surfs Teahupoo year round on the same board. May it be 4 foot or 10 foot, you’ll find Williams pulling in on the exact same sleigh. A point worthy of admiration as half of the Top 44 rocked up to Tahiti with two coffins chock full of fresh boards.

“Yeah, this is my only board. My friend gave it to me. It’s pretty good and it’s the only one I have,” he said minutes before paddling out to his heat against Hawaiian Kekoa Bacalso.

Whatever Williams was riding today, something seemed to click. With the entire flotilla of Teahupoo locals making their way to the outdoor arena to cheer on their hometown hero, Williams dominated Bacalso from the outset of the heat. The kid has more experience and Tahitian know-how than anyone else seeded in the event, and it shows when he surfs. Tomorrow, Williams is slated to go up against the current ASP World Tour number-one seed, Joel Parkinson, in round two.
      
And then there was Andy. 
      
In what has to be the most anticipated competitive session of the year, Andy Irons surfed his first heat in a jersey today since announcing that he would be taking a year-long breather at the end of last season. Granted a wildcard entry via Billabong, Andy entered the water today looking slightly meatier and oozing confidence. When he paddled out past the buoy and into the lineup, you could almost feel the collective nerves of the buoyant crowd coming to a head. Has it been too much time off? Does he still have that aggressive spike that’s made him oh-so deadly in the past? The answer is an unequivocal “Yes.”

Andy sadistically outsurfed Jihad Khodr this afternoon, posting some of the most serene tube rides of the day in the process and making one thing abundantly clear: He hasn’t lost a single step in his game. With the pressure off, Andy seems nonchalant, confident, and a very dangerous draw in the upcoming rounds. “I’m not here competing for points or anything like that,” he said after dismantling Jihad. “I’m just here having fun…”

With an expected bump in swell set to hit the Crown Jewel of the South Pacific later tonight, things look good for the next round of competition to continue tomorrow. Stay tuned to Surfermag.com as we bring you daily updates from the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo.

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Tim Reyes (USA) 3.90 def. Mikael Picon (FRA) 3.23

Heat 2: Ben Dunn (AUS) 16.00 def. Chris Davidson (AUS) 12.97

Heat 3: Dean Morrison (AUS) 17.00 def. Nathaniel Curran (USA) 8.40

Heat 4: Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 12.10 def. Chris Ward (USA) 10.56

Heat 5: Marlon Lipke (DEU) 15.00 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 5.90

Heat 6: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 13.57 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.67

Heat 7: Dayyan Neve (AUS) 13.10 vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 12.16

Heat 8: Heiarii Williams (PYF) 14.17 def. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 5.70

Heat 9: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.40 def. Bruno Santos (BRA) 12.60

Heat 10: Andy Irons (AUS) 14.50 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 4.77

Heat 11: Dustin Barca (HAW) 10.94 def. David Weare (ZAF) 6.77

Heat 12: Jay Thompson (AUS) 14.00 def. Greg Emslie (ZAF) 4.37

Heat 13: Tim Boal (FRA) 7.24 def. Nic Muscroft (AUS) 6.93

Heat 14: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.50 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 11.03

REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 15: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)

Heat 16: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)

Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)

Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBA

Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Marlon Lipke (DEU)

Heat 5: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Josh Kerr (AUS)

Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBA

Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)

Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heiarii Williams (PYF)

Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)

Heat 10: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. TBA

Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)

Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBA

Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)

Heat 14: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA

Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)

Heat 16: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)