Fanning through at Bells as defending champion falls to rookie

Bells Beach: Australian surfing great Mick Fanning has won his round-three heat at the Rip Curl Pro, beating Hawaiian Sebastian Zietz.

Bells Beach is Fanning's last event as a full-time professional surfer.

Fanning was a popular winner, overcoming a slow start to beat in-form Hawaiian Zeitz 13.56 to 9.10.

‘‘When you draw someone like ’Sea Bass’, I would have been happy if that was my last heat with him,’’ Fanning said.

‘‘He’s someone I really respect and he has a lot of fun; we were actually chatting out there, which I never do.

‘‘I just want to try to put on a performance. I feel like I haven’t really done much yet.

‘‘I just hope we get some more waves and I can put on a show; get my old rig moving one more time.’’

Fanning is the main attraction at Bells Beach this year and he was mobbed again after his heat.

‘‘It’s pretty overwhelming ... I’ve actually been very busy,‘‘’ he said.‘‘Any spare moment I get to myself, I’m just having a nap.’’

Earlier on Monday, Australian world tour rookie Wade Carmichael eliminated defending event champion Jordy Smith in a major upset.

The world tour rookie beat the South African star 13.30 to 12.17 on Monday morning in the first head of round three at the Rip Curl Pro.

It is the biggest result of Carmichael's career after the 25-year-old from the NSW Central Coast had to progress through the sudden-death second round. Carmichael's confidence was soaring after the heat.

‘‘It’s only one heat, an event is six or seven heats,’’ he said.

‘‘So you have to put a whole thing together.

‘‘People can get lucky in one heat, so you have to try and run with it. I want to go all the way, let’s win that Bell.’’

This is the last professional event for Fanning, the three-time world champion and four-time Bells Beach winner.

World tour leader Julian Wilson lost to American Patrick Gudauskas in Monday’s last heat at the Bells break before competition was called off for the day.

Wilson, who won at Snapper Rocks, fell to Gudauskas 10.73 to 9.37.

Australian stars Owen Wright and Matt Wilkinson and Tahitian Michel Bourez were the other round-three winners, with six more heats to come when the event recommences.

AAP