Tyler Wright has suffered a knee injury which could end her hopes of defending the world tour crown.
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Wright bowed out in round two of the event in Portugal this week after losing to wildcard Teresa Bonvalot.
She later revealed the extent of her injury, a medial ligament tear sustained in a free-surfing accident.
The door has now swung wide open for fellow South Coast surfer Sally Fitzgibbons to win her maiden world title, with Steph Gilmore and American Courtney Conlogue also in the mix. World Surf League medical director, Chris Prosser, has been treating Wright and shared some insights on her injury and prognosis.
“She was freesurfing as a warm-up for the competition Monday morning,” Prosser said.
“She was going backside, and in coming down off the lip caught the front of the wave and she lost the front foot, was suddenly under a load on the inside of her leg, which created a lot of stress, which stressed the inside ligaments within the knee.”
