At stop number eight on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) in Portugal,  Fitzgibbons’ combined score of 13.50 (7.67 and 5.83) was not enough to defeat rival Van Dijk, who scored 13.66 (5.83 and 7.83)

Fitzgibbons and Van Dijk were neck and neck through the closing minutes of the heat but Van Dijk edged the win by just 0.16 to eliminate her more experienced competitor.

“It’s a bit tough at the moment,” Fitzgibbons said.

“I really thought I’d done enough coming in from that heat.

“It was one of those heats that I thought I surfed really well so to hear those scores and not come in with the win is a challenge, but something I’ll learn from.

“It felt good that my surfing stepped up from the quarter-finals but it just wasn’t to be today.

“It was a great opportunity today to go further in the lead and I’m glad we’ve got an event next week.

“The challenge is keeping me inspired and fired up to get out there and keep making heats.

“Everyone is hungry and surfing so well so it all comes down to these close heats.”

This result saw Fitzgibbons take home a third place finish but she retained the leaders jersey and increased her lead over her closest rival Courtney Conlogue (USA) heading into the next event on the CT, the Roxy Pro France. 

2017 Women’s WSL Jeep Leaderboard top five (after Cascais Women’s Pro):

1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) - 51,600

2: Courtney Conlogue (USA) - 48,100

3: Tyler Wright (AUS) - 46,450

4: Sage Erickson (USA) - 42,350

5: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) - 42,000