Sebastian Zietz entered the Quiksilver Pro ranked No. 15 on the Jeep Leaderboard. The Hawaiian, who finished 12th last year after earning his first career win in Margaret River, came to France needing a solid result in order to keep pace with his 2016 run. On Saturday he made some headway by making his first Quarterfinal appearance of the year thanks to a Round Five win over Owen Wright. He followed with a Quarterfinal win over Miguel Pupo and a Semifinal win over Kolohe Andino. While his run was ended in the Final by Gabriel Medina Seabass was all smiles on stage afterward, learning he'd moved up to No. 11 on the Jeep Leaderboard.