Mick Fanning has pulled off a last minute miracle to swoop over the top of Jeremy Flores and Kelly Slater just moments ago at the Quiksilver Pro.

Fanning's dream return heat against 11-time world champion Slater and Frenchman Flores looked doomed.

Rusty to begin with, Fanning was staring down the barrel in third, 7.0 behind Flores in first with under 60 seconds to go.

Jumping on a wave, Fanning crafted a brilliant ride out of relatively nothing, coming off the lip cleanly as the siren went to end the heat.

After two minutes of deliberation, judges awarded Fanning a 7.17 which saw him win the heat, with Flores (13.13) in second and Slater (11.20) in an unlucky third.

Fanning said he was buoyed by his ability to see out the heat.

"It's a confidence booster that I can keep my cool at the end," he said.

"That's how I want to go all year."

Fanning now advances straight to Round three, avoiding a sudden-death heat in Round two.

More to come

Quiksilver Pro, Round one results:

Heat One:

First: Jadson Andre

Wave 1: 5.93, wave 2: 5.53, total: 11.46, won by 1.19.

Second: Michel Bourez

Wave 1: 5.67, wave 2: 4.60, total: 10.27

Third: Conner Coffin

Wave 1: 4.00, wave 2: 5.40, total: 9.40

Heat Two:

First: Matt Wilkinson

Wave 1: 6.17, wave 2: 7.50, total: 13.67

Second: Stuart Kennedy

Wave 1: 4.93, wave 2: 3.90, total: 8.83

Third: Ian Gouveia

Wave 1: 4.33, wave 2: 3.80, total: 8.13

Heat Three:

First: Kolohe Andino

Wave 1: 6.33, wave 2: 5.00, total: 11.33

Second: Jack Freestone

Wave 1: 7.17, wave 2: 3.50, total: 10.67

Third: Kanoa Igarashi

Wave 1: 1.00, wave 2: 2.10, total: 3.10

Heat Four:

First: Gabriel Medina

Wave 1: 7.83, wave 2: 8.67, total: 16.50

Second: Wiggolly Dantas

Wave 1: 4.83, wave 2: 6.07, total: 10.90

Third: Ezekiel Lau

Wave 1: 5.40, wave 2: 5.30, total: 10.70

Heat Five:

First: Jordy Smith

Wave 1: 6.43, wave 2: 5.50, total: 11.93

Second: Miguel Pupo

Wave 1: 3.67, wave 2: 8.10, total: 11.77

Third: Nat Young

Wave 1: 6.33, wave 2: 4.33, total: 0.66

Heat Six:

First: John John Florence

Wave 1: 8.50, wave 2: 8.33, total: 16.83

Second: Mikey Wright

Wave 1: 7.67, wave 2: 5.83, total 13.50

Third: Connor O'Leary

Wave 1: 3.90, wave 2: 4.30, total 8.209