Ewing had been among the most consist surfers on the Championship Tour this season, entering the event in South Africa fifth overall with three top-three finishes. 

The 23-year-old defeated home surfers Matthew McGillivray and Jordy Smith en route to the final four, and posted a two-wave score of 17.04 to beat Brazil's Yago Dora by just 0.17 points to earn a place in the final.

Facing compatriot Jack Robinson, Ewing earned scores of 7.67 then 9.13 in the final to claim a landmark victory.

The first of those waves saw Ewing make numerous sharp turns on a long run, before Ewing went airborne on the second and exhibited impressive balance to stay on the board.

Weston-Webb knocked off Costa Rican Brisa Hennessy in the quarter-finals and reigning WSL and Olympic champion Carissa Moore in the semi-finals, after the Hawaiian was slapped with an interference penalty.

Australia's Tyler Wright - making a comeback after COVID-19, injury and visa issues kept her out of three consecutive legs - faced Weston-Webb in the final.

Weston-Webb had no difficulty picking up speed and edged the final 17.50 to 15.67.

Second place still represents a great result for two-time WSL world champion Wright, who has climbed three places in the standings to seventh, two off the cut line for the end-of-season finals.

One leg is left before the finals.

Weston-Webb also climbed three places to third, with American Lakey Peterson - an elimination-round victim - dropping out of the top five.

France's Johanne Defay joined Moore in having cinched a spot in the final five.

On the men's side, Robinson did the same via his second-place finish.

While Ewing has moved up to third, the top five remains unchanged; Brazil's Olympic champion Italo Ferreira and Griffin Colapinto of the United States complete it, with Brazilian Filipe Toledo leading the way.

Kanoa Igarashi from Japan - the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist - reached the semi-finals and has closed the gap, now being 1,275 points off the top five.