Tyler Wright has suffered an early setback at the Fiji Women's Pro, with the World Surf League leader being forced into a sudden-death, second-round heat by fellow Australian Nikki van Dijk.
Van Dijk, 21, needed 16 stitches when she smashed into the Cloudbreak reef in 2014, but she thrived in pristine 1-1.5m waves on Sunday to beat Wright and wildcard Bethany Hamilton in their opening heat to advance straight to round three.
"I do think about my injury in Fiji from a few years back because I know what can happen," van Dijk said.
"I've always had that in the back of my mind but I am happy to be competing here."
Wright leads the WSL rankings going into the fifth of the 10 events on the championship tour but she's under plenty of pressure, with her nearest challengers Courtney Conlogue (USA) and Carissa Moore (Hawaii), and fourth-placed countrywoman Sally Fitzgibbons advancing directly to round three with opening-day wins.
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Fitzgibbons fought a fiercely contested heat with defending event champion Bianca Buitendag of South Africa and Australian WSL rookie Keely Andrew.
She dropped rides of 7.27 and 6.93 late in the heat to triumph.
"It is nice being back in the line-up at Cloudbreak," Fitzgibbons said.
"This event is definitely a moving point in the season but that aside, I am trying to step it up.
"There were some challenging conditions this morning on multiple spots of the reef. I did not quite have my rhythm but I tried to manufacture that win so I was happy."
World No.2 Conlogue dominated her heat against Coco Ho (Hawaii) and injury replacement Bronte Macaulay of Australia.
Reigning world champion Moore blazed past Sage Erickson (USA) and WSL rookie Chelsea Tuach of Barbados.
"A wave like Fiji is a little intimidating for me so I definitely feel like I have a lot of room to improve and I am looking forward to it," Moore said.
