Muscroft gets call-up for Teahupoo

Australian surfer Nic Muscroft has been gifted a late entry into the Billabong Pro Tahiti, which will finally get underway on Wednesday without defending champion Damien Hobgood.

American Hobgood was Tuesday forced to pull out of the men's world surfing tour event after failing to recover from a broken shoulder suffered when he smashed into the Teahupoo reef while free-surfing last month.

But Hobgood's misfortune has paved the way for a third top-tier appearance this season for Muscroft, who is the tour's first emergency after missing qualification by one spot last year.

The Victorian is in Tahiti for the first time and had been nervously awaiting his fate since Hobgood's accident.

"It was nervous wait for a while, but now that I've got the good news that I'm in, I'm really happy," Muscroft said.

"It's been a bit frustrating but it (coming here) has sort of paid off in the end.

"My first surf here was only about six days ago and it's a pretty amazing wave. I just hope it gets a lot bigger."

The 25-year-old will feature on Wednesday in an all-Australian heat against Bede Durbidge and Dayyan Neve and he is already thinking about progression for the chance to take on the likes of Mick Fanning, Kelly Slater and Andy Irons.

"That's always the plan," Muscroft said.

"I want to make round three and get a shot at the high seeds and take them down hopefully."

Organisers say the event will begin "rain, hail or shine" on Wednesday, likely in one-to-two metre waves, after timid conditions saw the start of the event delayed by five days.

"We are going to start the event no matter what," tournament director Luke Egan said.

"I'm a little disappointed that we haven't had some swell come through like we did at the Von Zipper trials (last month) but we can only deal with what we've got.

"These guys are the best in the world, they'll make it look really good.

"I'm just a little bummed that they haven't got better waves to show what they've got."

Hobgood said he was confident of being in fit in time to contest this month's Global Pro in Fiji, where he is also the reigning champion.