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Australian surfers Liam O'Brien and Morgan Cibilic are into the semi-finals of the Rottnest Search after causing huge boilovers on Saturday.

Gold Coast wildcard Liam O'Brien has continued his fairytale run at his WSL debut by locking in a semi-final berth at the Rottnest Search in Western Australia.

O'Brien, who was only called up for the event as an injury replacement, beat Brazilian Miguel Pupo (13.23 to 12.83) in their quarter-final showdown on Saturday.

The shock result sets up a semi-final against fellow Australian Morgan Cibilic, who pulled off an upset of his own when he beat Julian Wilson 15.70 to 14.16 earlier in the day.

World No.1 Gabriel Medina is also into the last four after taking to the air to edge his way past American Conner Coffin (13.80 to 13.60).

Medina will now meet fellow Brazilian Italo Ferreira, who got the better of Yago Dora in their quarter-final battle.

But it is the presence of O'Brien and Cibilic in an all-Australian semi that has set tongues wagging.

Cibilic himself is new to the tour - but not to the spotlight.

The rising star hit the headlines earlier this year when he eliminated two-time world champion John John Florence in consecutive events.

Either Cibilic or O'Brien will make it through to the final - an amazing achievement against a star-studded field.

"I'm feeling pretty comfortable, I really love it when you've got just a couple of lefts you can square up on," Cibilic told the WSL broadcast.

"Today it's petty easy to read compared to the earlier days where it was a bit more stretched out."