World surfing title contender Sally Fitzgibbons and three other Australians have cruised through to the third round of the women's tour event in California.
Fitzgibbons, Tyler Wright, Stephanie Gilmore and Dimity Stoyle made the most of wave-starved conditions at Huntington Beach to win their opening battles on Tuesday, alongside defending champion Carissa Moore and Lakey Peterson.
Five-time world champion Gilmore didn't stumble in her heat, posting the day's highest two-wave total of 15.77.
"My strategy was to go out there and stay active, but you also have to have an open mind and look at waves that might not be an option when you're free surfing," Gilmore said.
"It's hard out there, but you just have to be positive about it and find the best waves you can."
Fitzgibbons, currently second on the overall rankings behind Moore, had the lowest winning score of the round with a combined total of 8.67.
Tour rookie Stoyle looked right at home in her heat, taking a win over top-seed Malia Manuel of Hawaii and France's Johanne Defay.
"Huntington Beach is similar to what I surf at home on the Sunshine Coast and I'm used to these conditions," Stoyle said.
"I can't believe it's the second half of the year already. I'm having the best time and I'm going to try not to change that and take the same mentality in the back half of the year."
Fellow Australians Laura Enever and Nikki Van Dijk failed to top their opening heats but get another chance in the knockout second-round.
The US Open is stop No.6 of 10 this year and runs until August 3.
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