Timmy Reyes got off to a flying start in the Honda u.S. Open of Surfing Tuesday morning.

Reyes handily beat Japan’s Teppai Tajima, 14.17-10.54 in the Men’s Round of 144. The Huntington Beach surfer used his wealth of local knowledge to grab open face on a pair of righthanders. First for a 6.17 then,for a 8.0 and a solid lead.

As time ran out, Reyes went right again and launched a huge aerial, but landed in the mush on the back of the wave, missing what would have been a big score, despite the heat already being secured.

However, Reyes knows being on the World Championship Tour and a local doesn’t mean everything.

“All the younger guys aren’t scared to face guys like me. And if they lose, they’re not upset. You feel it on both sides. They’re  going for it and you’re going for it.”

Just back from South Africa, and heading to Indonesia as soon as thise even is over, was happy to be in town.

“A week at home is gold. To sleep in your own bed is nice. As long as we have waves here, it’s great,” he said. 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 10:19 am and is filed under Beach culture, Latest surf news, Surfing, U.S. Open of Surfing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.