John John Florence continues love affair with Margaret River Pro on his way to the quarterfinals

John John Florence proved he is still the man to beat in Margaret River, ripping some sharp turns on a 9.43 ride to cruise into the quarterfinals on Sunday.

The Hawaiian two-time world champion, who has now accumulated an incredible 43 excellent rides of 8.00 or more in nine trips to WA’s South West, dominated from the outset of his round of 16 heat to post 16.93 against South African Matthew McGillivray (10.70).

Brazilians dominate some of the other quarterfinal match-ups with world No.1 Joao Chianca and former world champions Gabriel Medina and Filipe Toldeo also into the last eight.

World No. 4 Ethan Ewing and No.12 Connor O’Leary, who secured his place about the cutline by making the round of 32, are the last Australians in the men’s draw after Callum Robson, Liam O’Brien and Ryan Callinan lost their round of 16 heats.

Florence, who was pipped in last year’s Margaret River Pro final by injured hometown hero Jack Robinson, put his incredible form down to how comfortable he felt in WA.

“I think for me a lot of it is what surrounds the event, the environment we are in. I just feel really good here,” he said.

“It feels like home and I surf my best when I am relaxed. Having these waves that have a lot of power to them fits my boards from home and that’s when I surf my best.

“I like this wave because it gives you a lot of opportunities out there. You paddle out in a heat and most likely you are going to get an opportunity to do what you want to do on a wave.”

Florence next faces Ewing in the quarterfinals and said he was wary of the in-from Aussie’s who is coming off a win at Bells Beach earlier this month. That is likely to take place later this week with bad weather forecast for coming days.

“I think Ethan is an incredible surfer, he has such a good style and he is so smooth through his turns,” he said. “It will be fun to surf against Ethan.”

Ewing, who made the semifinals in Margaret River last year, said he was feeling confident after knocking off former world champion Italo Ferreira.

“Last few heats I haven’t got too many waves so it feels good to ride a few more waves and kind of get into a bit of a better rhythm,” he said.

Earlier, O’Leary, who faces Chianca in the quarterfinals, said he was keen to turn the tables on the World Surf League men’s rankings leader after losing to him in the quarterfinals in Portugal.

“I need to get him back,” he said. “I think the surfing I’ve been doing is working. I just need to keep doing that and try and bring one back on him.”

In other round-of-16 heats, American world No.7 Griffin Colapinto and Hawaiian Barron Mamiya also won through to the quarterfinals.