Surfing champion Mick Fanning's early exit from the world tour opener on the Gold Coast won't change his plans for the year ahead.
Fanning made a shock third-round exit from the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on Monday, losing to American wildcard Sebastian Zietz.
The 33-year-old announced before the event he will be taking time off after an emotional 2015.
Beyond the upcoming Bells Beach stop Fanning has no events lined up in 2016 and says his Gold Coast result won't be changing that.
"I've decided to do these two events and now I'm going to take a couple of events off," he said.
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"I don't know what other events I'm going to do this year.
"I'll probably make up my mind as I go along. The goal is to try and qualify on a few events."
While Fanning departed, it was another great day for Australian Stu Kennedy.
The 26-year-old NSW surfer backed up his Sunday elimination of legend Kelly Slater with a thrilling heat win over 2014 world champion Gabriel Medina.
It means Kennedy, competing as an injury replacement for Bede Durbidge, will be guaranteed of an equal-ninth place finish at worst.
"I love surfing against the best guys, it pushes my surfing to the next level," Kennedy said.
"After grinding it out on the QS (qualifying school) for so long I knew I can get on some good waves and make my surfing do the talking instead of having to surf all these beach breaks and sloppy conditions every contest I had to go to.
"To beat those two guys, Kelly and Gabriel, it's like a dream come true - that's for sure."
Defending event champion Filipe Toledo continued his love affair with the Gold Coast late in the day.
The Brazilian nailed the first perfect 10 of the event to beat local favourite Joel Parkinson and American rookie Conner Coffin and become the first competitor into the quarter-finals.
Toledo also carried a warning for his rivals, promising he still had more to deliver despite notching a near-flawless 19.27 in the fourth-round heat.
"I'm super excited and I can't wait to get back in the water again," Toledo said.
"I'm just working on having more fun in each heat."
In the other fourth round heat completed on Monday, local Matt Wilkinson upset world champion Adriano de Souza and Brazilian rookie Caio Ibelli to also book a quarter-final berth.
Organisers will meet at 7am (0800AEDT) on Tuesday to make a call on when the competition will resume.
