Ethan Ewing's hopes of emulating his mother by winning Bells Beach has been cruelly denied after he was hampered by a lack of waves during his semi-final heat.
Ewing soared into the final four after posting an impressive quarter-final win over Olympic bronze medallist Owen Wright on Saturday.
But his 35-minute semi-final against Brazilian Filipe Toledo on Sunday was blighted by a lack of surfable waves.
Ewing's first scoring wave didn't come until there was just six minutes remaining - and it was too small to do any major damage.
And after Toledo had gone to the air in the early stages of the heat to post a 6.0 before following it up with a 4.73, it meant Ewing needed a 7.30 on his second scoring wave to secure victory.
Ewing set off on a wave with just 30 seconds remaining, but he crashed out on his first turn in an attempt to pull off something special.
The 23-year-old's late mother Helen Lambert won the 1983 Bells Beach title, and Ethan was visibly devastated after losing to Toledo.
"I'm just super shattered after that one," Ewing told the WSL broadcast.
"I felt like if a good wave came through, I would have been in a good position. But time ran out.
"I wish we went on hold. I know the heat before had a lot of waves, but looking back it's pretty bad."
Australian rookie Callum Robson secured a spot in the final against Toledo after edging past countryman Jack Robinson 11.86 to 11.50 in a tight semi-final showdown.
"I have to get back out there in about 30 minutes, so I'm not getting too emotionally involved in what just happened," Robson said.
Ewing now has two third-placed finishes this year, putting him in a strong position to finish the season in the top five and reach the year-ending title decider.
"I think I'll take a lot of confidence away from my performance here," Ewing said.
"I felt good. I felt like I had a lot more to give to be honest. I'll keep working hard and look forward to Margs."
