Jadson Andre became the first rookie in four years to win an ASP World Tour event, defeating former nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater to win the Santa Catarina Pro. The win by the Brazilian rookie moves Andre up to fourth in the overall ASP World Tour rankings, and an appearance in the finals vaulted Kelly Slater atop the ASP World Tour, the first time Slater has been ranked number one in nearly two years.

“It definitely puts me in a good spot this season heading into Jeffreys (Bay) and Tahiti,” said Slater. “I think it’s been almost two years since I’ve led the rankings and yeah, it feels good. Obviously, you want to win every heat, but that said, I didn’t lose to a Mick (Fanning) or a Joel (Parkinson) or a Jordy (Smith) who are probably bigger threats in terms of the title. Jadson (Andre) winning here today is special and it’s probably something that he’ll remember for the rest of his life.”



Slater avenged numerous past losses on his way to reaching the finals, knocking out Jordy Smith in the quarterfinals and Owen Wright in the semis before succumbing to Andre, a goofy-footer who excels in smaller backdoor waves. “In these conditions it was always going to be tough to beat him (Andre),” Slater said. “I would have had to gotten the set waves and had sections to pull some airs off. He was pretty unbeatable in these conditions and he took down everyone. We’ll see if he can match the performances at places like Teahupoo and Pipeline.”



Jadson Andre's momentous victory, the first by an ASP World Tour rookie since Bobby Martinez in 2006, allowed him to celebrate with his native Brazilians. “What do I say?” said Andre. “This is my dream. This is everything I have worked for in my life. To be on the beach and hear that I was the winner, something special came over me. I don’t know how to put into words. It’s a miracle. I have had some bad things happen in my life, but this is amazing. I am so thankful to everyone for this."



Andre is also well-aware of how important the victory was in terms of surviving the mid-season cut-off of ASP World Tour surfers from 45 to 32. “It’s very important in terms of my ranking,” said Andre. “Not only to help make the Top 32 cut-off, but also to help my seeding at J-Bay and Teahupoo. I know Kelly (Slater) can get a score whenever he wants so I tried my best to get scores early and keep the pressure on.”



The ASP World Tour now takes a two-and-a-half month break, with the contest window for the Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay opening on July 15th.



Current ASP World Tour Top 10:



1. Kelly Slater (USA) 21750 pts

2. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18500 pts

3. Taj Burrow (AUS) 18250 pts

4. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15500 pts

4. Jadson Andre (BRA) 15500 pts

6. Bobby Martinez (USA) 14750 pts

6. Dane Reynolds (USA) 14750 pts

8. Joel Parkinson (USA) 14250 pts

8. Adriano De Souza (BRA) 14250 pts

10. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12250 pts