Nerves of steel have helped Kelly Slater cruise through the first heats of the season-opening men’s world surfing championship event on the Gold Coast.

The Quiksilver Pro defending champion has had an effortless start to his campaign for a 12th world crown and, while several of the top contenders have admitted to early season nerves, Slater says that’s something he doesn’t have to worry about.

“Twenty years of competing will give you calmness,” he laughed.

“You want nerves to wake you up and get you going and right before I surf sometimes I get a little jitters but, overall, it doesn’t bother me so much, you’re either going to win or you’re going to lose, what’s the big deal huh?”

He advanced from the third round with a comfortable win over fellow American Fred Patacchia but there were tight tussles for Australians Owen Wright and Josh Kerr.

Kerr beat Byron Bay’s Kieren Perrow 15.5 to 14.9 and Wright squeaked past NSW Central Coast surfer Matt Wilkinson 14.9 to 14.5 to make the fourth round at Snapper Rocks for the first time in his career.

He admitted the pressure get to him.

“I was really nervous before that heat but once I got out there I just felt comfortable,” he said.

“The surf’s dropped off a bit and it’s a little bit weaker but there’s still some smashable sections and there’s definitely going to be some high-performance surfing today.”

The men’s competition will resume on Monday afternoon after organisers run the women’s non-elimination round three.