MEREWETHER club-mates Ryan Callinan and Morgan Cibilic will face off in the second quarter final when the men's side of the World Surf League (WSL) Newcastle Cup resumes - almost certainly this morning.
One will make it to the semi-final but the Brazilians are also on fire, making up five of the remaining eight competitors.
The women lit up the beach late in the afternoon with Hawaiian world champ Carissa Moore posting the best score of the contest, a 9.90 for a carving wave with a big "air reverse" to beat Frenchwoman Johanne Defay.
In the men's side, the first quarter-final is a Brazilian match-up between Gabriel Medina and Adriano de Souza, followed by the Merewether showdown.
Brazilian world-champ Italo Ferreira takes on countryman Deivid Silva in the third, while US surfer Conner Coffin faces the fifth Brazilian, Felipe Toledo.
Cibilic had a substantial victory over Central Coaster Wade Carmichael in a battle of the natural-footers.
Callinan took half a heat to get going, but surfed faster and went higher than fellow goofy Owen Wright to get the nod.
The Aussie leg of the Championship Tour got a big boost yesterday morning when Mick Fanning revealed to the WSL live stream that he was taking a wild-card entry into Friday's Narrabeen Classic. Like the Newcastle event, it's sponsored by Rip Curl, Fanning's long-time backer.
The 2007, 2009 and 2013 world champ said he wasn't "getting any younger" - he turns 40 in June - and had been considering a return to competition last year but COVID got in the way.
He had considered Jeffreys Bay, the South African point break where he famously beat off a massive shark - live on broadcast - in the final of the 2015 event against Wilson.
In the women's, Aussie Isabella Nichols down seven-time world champ Stephanie Gilmore - a shock result - and fellow Aussie Keely Andrew kept the upsets coming by downing US star Courtney Conlogue.
Carissa Moore's 9.90 gave her a clear win over Defay, and American Caroline Marks downed Bronte Macaulay in the final quarter.
The semi-final lineup will be another Aussie showdown of Nichols against Andrew while Moore will take on Marks.
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