Hawaiian surfer John John Florence made a massive statement at Bells Beach on Monday with the first perfect-10 wave score of the men’s season.

The 21-year-old completed a jaw-dropping aerial manoeuvre on the way to his fourth-round heat win at the Rip Curl Pro.
Adding to the occasion, he took a couple of big scalps by beating 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and current world No.1 Gabriel Medina.

Four of the judges gave Florence 10s and the fifth scored him a 9.5. The heat win puts Florence into the quarter-finals, his best result since finishing runner-up to Slater last December at the Pipe Masters in Hawaii.

Also on Monday, defending world champion Mick Fanning moved into the quarter-finals with his round-four win over Hawaiian Freddie Patacchia and fellow Australian Julian Wilson.

Australian Taj Burrow beat compatriot Adam Melling and defending Bells Beach champion Adriano De Souza in their round-four heat.
Joel Parkinson is also into the quarters as he continued his consistent start to the season with a win over South African Jordy Smith and fellow Australian Owen Wright.

Earlier on Easter Monday afternoon, the third round was put on hold for an hour and it proved a wise move.

Once competition resumed, Wilson and Fanning posted big scores in the way to their heat wins.
Wilson almost achieved perfection ahead of Florence, posting a 9.93 wave score as beat Patacchia.

Fanning then scored a 9.67 as he moved into round four at the expense of compatriot Matt Wilkinson.
The round-four losers go into the sudden-death fifth round.