etnies

Sally's off to a great start at the US Open of Surfing.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California/USA (Monday, August 2, 2010) – The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s 6-Star US Open of Surfing saw reigning three-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 22, and defending event champion Courtney Conlogue (Santa Ana, CA), 17, fall in Round 3 of competition today in tricky two-to-four foot (1 metre) South Huntington Beach Pier conditions.

Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, current ASP Women's Dream Tour No. 2, detonated the event's highest scores in her Round of 24 heat, blasting a near perfect 9.00 out of 10 while accumulating the highest heat total of 17.17 out of 20.

"It's good to get two rounds out of the way," Fitzgibbons said. "I was feeling really good out there and in rhythm of the sets. It was fun out there."

Fitzgibbons, who has three consecutive runner-up finishes in the last three ASP Women's World Title events and was the winner of the Portuguese based ASP 6-Star event earlier this season, also has her eye on the landmark $50,000 prize purse but knows there is still a long road ahead.

"It's super early days, but it's fantastic that Nike has put up the money," Fitzgibbons said. "It makes it all the more exciting. There is a long way to go yet, but it'd be a nice incentive."

Round of 24 Match-ups start at 7:30am Tuesday
Heat # 1
Carissa Moore(HAW), Lakey Peterson(USA), Chantelle Rautenbach(ZAF)

Heat # 2
Laura Enever(AUS), Tyler Wright(AUS), Claire Bevilacqua(AUS)

Heat # 3
Justine Dupont(FRA), Sally Fitzgibbons(AUS), Nicola Atherton(AUS)

Heat # 4
Jacqueline Silva(BRA), Sarah Baum(ZAF), Alana Blanchard(USA)