Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson have dominated their round-four heats at the World Surf League event in Hossegor, France, to grab spots in the quarter-finals.
They will be joined by Bede Durbidge and Owen Wright, who progressed from round five on Sunday with respective wins over American Kolohe Andino and local hope Jeremy Flores.
In the women's event, six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore, back competing after a knee injury in April, suffered disappointment as she was eliminated by American Sage Erickson.
Fellow Australians Tyler Wright and Sally Fitzgibbons, meanwhile, progressed to the quarter-finals along with Victorian Nikki Van Dijk, who beat compatriot Dimity Stoyle.
Fanning's round-four success followed a tight victory on Saturday over local wildcard Maxime Huscenot, who had the three-time WSL champion on the ropes until the dying seconds of the heat.
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However, the 34-year-old appeared to have put the stressful encounter out of his mind, his focus now on his quarter-final matchup with Durbidge and trying to claim a fifth event title in France.
"Hopefully, come final day, it can peak and I can put another good performance," Fanning said.
"I like these big matchups, even though they are stressful, they keep you in a good frame of mind. Sometimes when you surf easy heats, then you get those big matchups and you sort of forget what to do."
Wilson was among the big crowd entertainers of the day at Culs Nus, with aerial manoeuvres and carves on the glassy canvas conditions.
"The tide just turned before our heat and, gradually, as our heat went on, the waves got a better shape to them," Wilson said.
"The medium ones are definitely the best, but even on those big sets if you know it's going to reform with a big section in the inside, you can roll the dice under priority, there was lots of opportunities out there."
