TEN-time world champion Kelly Slater survived an early scare from teenage Australian wildcard Matt Banting (Port Macquarie, NSW) to surge through the opening round of the Quiksilver Pro presented by Land Rover at Snapper Rocks today.On a day of great waves and huge crowds at the famous Gold Coast point break, the American surfing superstar was the man the thousands standing on the sand had come to see.In what could be his last appearance at the Quiksilver Pro, Slater posted a combined two-wave score of 13.93 to dispose of 16-year-old Port Macquarie prodigy Banting with 11.34 and Sydney’s Kai Otton with 6.70.Slater will now progress straight through to Round 3, relegating both Banting and Otton to fight for survival in sudden-death Round 2 when competition resumes.But the most impressive performance in the opening round belonged to defending champion Taj Burrow, who lit up Snapper Rocks with the highest combined two-wave score of the day. Quiksilverpro.com.au