In pursuit of a spot on next year's world tour, Anderson and Baum will now meet Courtney Conlogue and Coco Ho respectively.

The one-on-one elimination battles at the US Open follow four-surfer heats at Huntington Beach on Friday (AEST) with Anderson and Baum both safely finishing second.

Anderson's two-wave combined total (5.66) was well behind leader Alyssa Spencer (14.84) in the round of 32, but she edged out Shino Matsuda (5.47) and Amuro Tsuzuki (3.00).

The Novocastrian was fourth and on the brink of being knocked out before being awarded a 2.73 with a buzzer-beating ride while Tsuzuki was docked points for a late priority inference.

Baum (8.30) snuck past Australian representative Keely Andrew (8.00) with Portugal's Teresa Bonvalot (7.86) fourth. US surfer Sawyer Lindblad (10.17) won the heat.

The South African native slipped from second to fourth in the closing stages before a 4.70 ride on the siren kept her alive on day three of competition.

In the men's draw, Merewether's Jackson Baker was eliminated in the first round earlier this week.

The Challenger Series continues in California this weekend before three more stops - Portugal, France, Hawaii - between now and December helping to determine who qualifies for the main tour in 2022.

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