Australian Jack Robinson sent world number one John John Florence home from the Olympic surfing competition, riding tough in their round-of-16 clash.

In deteriorating conditions that forced the women's heats to be abandoned on Tuesday morning (AEST), Ethan Ewing joined Robinson in advancing to set up an all-Aussie quarterfinal.

A storm system south of French Polynesia, hosting the surfing for this year's Olympics, made for terrifying surfing in Teahupo'o. 

The wildness elevated the blockbuster Robinson-Florence heat between the World Surf League's (WSL) number one and three ranked surfers.

In noticeably bigger surf than previous days, neither were able to put a meaningful score on the board in the first half of their 30-minute heat.

Chasing a score, Robinson and Florence both disappeared into the wash and required rescuing from jetskis within seconds of each other.

Robinson stood tall after dicing with the reef, plunging into a barrel to score 7.17 in a decisive ride.

A second score took the Western Australian out of reach of Florence, the two-time world champion, eventually winning 13.94 against the Hawaiian's 9.07.

The result was a repeat of the 26-year-old's win from April's Margaret River Pro.