Mick Fanning missed out on a fourth world surfing title, but Julian Wilson delivered some Australian glory, by winning the Pipe Masters and Triple Crown.

Wilson shaded newly-crowned world champion Gabriel Medina 19.63 to 19.20 in a final which featured high scoring in the first and last few minutes.

He showed enormous stamina, winning six heats in one day on the way to taking out just his second World Championship Tour (WCT) event.

Medina, 20, became Brazil's first male surfing champion, when his closest challenger Fanning was eliminated in the fifth round.

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He lost 6.53 to 2.84 to Brazilian Alejo Muniz, who earlier defeated 11-time world champion Kelly Slater, whose slender world title prospects ended at that stage.

Medina finished with 62,800 points for the season, followed by Fanning on 55,350.

Fanning was gracious in acknowledging Medina's ascension to world champion status.

"Congratulations to this great kid," Fanning tweeted.

"He truly deserved everything he achieved this year."

Medina said he was shocked after making his world title dream a reality and praised Fanning and Slater.

"I'm so honoured to be in this battle against Mick (Fanning) and Kelly (Slater)," Medina said.

"I've always looked up to them and they have inspired me since I was a little grom.

"This year has been great, I never imagined I would win Snapper, Fiji and Teahupoo."

It was also a special day for 26-year-old Queenslander Wilson, whose win lifted him to 14th in the rankings and secured him a starting spot on the 2016 tour.

The victory was a magnificent end to a tough year in which he struggled to get past the early rounds apart from a semi-final effort at Bells Beach in Victoria.

"It's the best competitive day of my life, 100 per cent," Wilson said.

"I never really was thinking about the Triple Crown too much. I just wanted to make sure I stayed on tour."

He scored 9.93 on his first wave, but Medina led for much of the closest final in Pipe history, after posting the only 10 of the event, followed by an 8.83, with his second and third waves.

In a dramatic climax, each man pulled out a big score with their final wave.

Wilson recorded a 9.70 and his win was confirmed a few seconds later, as Medina's final wave scored a 9.20.

Medina and Wilson won semi-finals against Australians Josh Kerr and Adrian Buchan, respectively.

After Fanning struck late in his third round heat against Frenchman Jeremy Flores, finishing second to Buchan in round four meant he faced the prospect of surfing six times in the day to win the event and then hope Medina missed the final.

He scored just 6.47 to Buchan's 6.86 and continued to struggle against Muniz, scoring under a point on each of his first four waves and under two for his last three.