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Aussie world No.1 surfer Stephanie Gilmore has beat Hawaiian veteran Melanie Bartels in their round two elimination clash in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Australian four-time world champion and world No.1 surfer Stephanie Gilmore has posted the day's highest total score to cruise into the third round of the Billabong Pro event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 24-year-old commanded her round two elimination clash against Hawaiian veteran Melanie Bartels on Thursday, earning one of the day's highest single-wave scores of 8.50 out of 10 en route to the day's highest heat total of 16.70 in the challenging one-to-three foot waves at Arpoador.

"I was pretty worried going into that heat because the waves were just so minimal," Gilmore said.

"Performance-wise, when it's inconsistent and very hard to surf, there are so many things going through your mind.

"It was really nerve-wracking, especially going against Mel Bartels, she's one of my favorite surfers and I was nervous."

Sally Fitzgibbons, 21, runner-up at last year's Billabong Rio Pro, returned to form, getting the best of veteran Brazilian Jacqueline Silva, her total score of 12.60 enough to get her through.

Fellow Australian Laura Enever also made it through to the third round posting a 12.96 total score to defeat American Sage Erickson.

In the day's other round two heats Hawaiian Coco Ho posted the highest single-waver score of 8.57 to defeat New Zealand's Sarah Mason, American Courtney Conlogue beat French rookie surfer Justine Dupont and France's Pauline Ado also advanced to round three by eliminating Kiwi Paige Hareb.