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Matt Wilkinson has joined five other Australians, including world No.3 Julian Wilson, in the third round of the WSL's second-to-last leg in Portugal.

Matt Wilkinson has joined world title contender Julian Wilson among six Australians to qualify for the third round of the World Surf League (WSL) event in Portugal.

Wilson, series leader Gabriel Medina and his fellow Brazilian Felipe Toledo are the only men in contention for the world title, with the stop in Peniche the second-to-last on the calendar.

In the final heat of round three, world No.3 Wilson - buoyed by last week's win at the Quiksilver France Pro - will face Brazil's Ian Gouveia.

New South Welshman Wilkinson eliminated Hawaiian Sebastien Zietz 11.33 to 10.83 in their second-round heat in three-to-four foot waves at the Supertubos surf break.

"It was kind of stressful but when there's a lot of waves it's always more fun," Wilkinson said.

"I'd seen a few smaller runners on the inside so I knew they were there if I needed them.

"I was happy to get that done with the little reverse and, hopefully, it gets bigger and better and we get barrelled."

Wilkinson will face world No.5 South African Jordy Smith for a spot in round four.

Australian Connor O'Leary failed to overcome Hawaiian aerial specialist Ezekiel Lau, going down 13.26 to 8.36 on Wednesday afternoon.

The 2017 Rookie of the Year will go into the final stop of the year, at the Billabong Pipemasters in Hawaii, sitting outside the requalification zone for the Championship Tour.

With the wind picking up the WSL organisers put the competition on standby until 7.45am local time on Thursday (1745 AEDT).

In other third-round action involving Australians, Ryan Callinan will face Medina, the 2017 winner in Portugal.

World No.6 Owen Wright will surf against Californian Patrick Gudauskas, world No.7 Wade Carmichael will take on veteran Brazilian battler Tomas Hermes and Adrian Buchan is up against Brazilian Willian Cardoso.

Frenchman Joan Duru is Toledo's opponent in round three.