Local favourite Taj Burrow carries Australia’s hopes into the semi-finals of the Margaret River Pro world surfing event.

The West Australian tour veteran is the only Australian left in the men’s draw after the semi-finalists were decided in more large, clean surf at Main Break on Saturday.

Burrow will face Brazil’s Adriano de Souza in the final four after overcoming Sunshine Coast surfer Julian Wilson in the quarter-finals.

After falling to Burrow in the third-round three-man heats earlier in the day, Wilson stormed into the last eight with a near-perfect 19.06 two-wave total in his fourth-round match-up with Owen Wright.

Wilson, runner-up in the opening event of the year on the Gold Coast, had the early edge over Burrow in their last-eight heat but the 36-year-old claimed two eight-point rides to finish with a 16.27 total which Wilson couldn’t match.

“I’m so excited to be at this event and into the semis,” Burrow said.

“I’m really proud of this area and to have great waves and weather and have the guys all putting on a show has been unreal.

“I don’t feel any pressure to perform, it’s the opposite, I just go out to surf good waves and have fun and if the results come then that’s just a bonus.”

De Souza booked his semi-final berth with a win over American great Kelly Slater.

The 43-year-old could only score 9.96 out of 20 in his quarter-final with de Souza, who took out the win by 5.77 points.

De Souza has now only lost once against Slater since 2010 and the 11-time world champion admitted the Brazilian had him mentally on edge.

“Adriano sits on you and gets in your head and he was smart in that heat,” Slater said.

“I also got caught up in one big one, went over the falls and broke my good board, which didn’t help.”

Giant-killer Jay Davies, who eliminated defending world champion Gabriel Medina and Aussie star Mick Fanning earlier in the tournament, had his run ended by American John John Florence in the quarter-finals.

The Australian wildcard entry opened with a 6.17 but a 9.20 late in the heat was enough for Florence to end Davies’ spectacular event.

“I’m pretty stoked with where I ended up and I got to surf against one of my favourite surfers today,” Davies said.

“It makes me feel very humble to hear the local crowds and be the people’s champion for today.”

Florence will meet compatriot Nat Young in the other semi-final after the American eliminated Tahiti’s Michel Bourez.

Organisers will make a call at 7am local WA time on whether the competition will resume on Sunday.