Ethan Ewing has survived a late charge from 11-time world champion Kelly Slater to advance to the round of 16 in the World Surf League event at Hawaii’s Sunset Beach.

The world No.2 Australian was taking on the American veteran in successive competitions with the pair also squaring off in the third round of Pipe Pro last week.

Ewing was again triumphant, but faced a nervous wait with Slater pulling on to a wave in the final minute and nailing a carving 360.

The 52-year-old needed a score of 6.17 to down the Queenslander but after a long deliberation the judges awarded a 4.93.

“They took a while to score and I wasn’t exactly sure what the score was that he needed,” Ewing said.

“I saw it (the wave) from behind and I was super stressed out.”

With Slater set to retire at the end of the 2024 season, Ewing was grateful to get another chance to surf against the world’s greatest.

“As soon as I saw the match-up I was pretty excited but also super nervous because he just pulls stuff out of his hat pretty easy and he’s the GOAT but I was happy to go up against him again, he’s a legend,” the 25-year-old said.

The wild, windy conditions proved tricky for all of the surfers with wave selection difficult.

“That was one of the hardest sessions I’ve had out there,” Ewing said.

“You need to have low expectations as you can get stuck out there looking for a perfect wave and there’s not many out there so you’ve got to keep the ball rolling.”

In other Australian results, Jacob Wilcox tallied 13.40 to upset in-form Italian Leonardo Fioravanti, who scored 13.33, while Liam O’Brien also had a tight tussle before overcoming Brazilian Caio Ibelli.

O’Brien and Ewing will again meet in the round of 16 after the latter won their Pipe Pro clash at the same stage.

Jack Robinson and Ryan Callinan were still to complete their third round heats while the women’s competition was yet to get underway.