Robertson fights back to stun Higgins at Masters

From a 5-1 deficit, Neil Robertson defeated fellow two-time champion John Higgins 6-5 to advance to the Masters semifinals at Alexandra Palace.

The Australian, who was given the opportunity to compete due to Ronnie O’Sullivan’s shock withdrawal on Friday, will now face Shaun Murphy, who defeated Gary Wilson 6-3.

When Higgins missed a quick red in the right middle of the seventh frame, Robertson had looked down and out, causing a remarkable reversal of fortunes.

Higgins, making his 31st appearance in the event, was in complete control as he moved within a frame of victory with runs of 54, 78, 59, 86, 54 and 66.

However, Robertson capitalised on his reprieve and crucially found his rhythm to compile breaks of 63, 118 and 80 on his way to forcing a final-frame decider.

The Australian responded with a half-century of his own before sealing the deal with a stunning victory while Higgins came in first with a 35.

“It was an unbelievable match. John was playing incredibly well for 5-1 and he didn’t really do anything wrong”, Robertson told BBC Sport.

Ali Carter benefited from O’Sullivan’s decision to withdraw from the 2020 edition of the tournament by taking advantage of the tournament’s late call-up to reach the final.

Robertson will now attempt to accomplish the same thing after winning the opening frame but losing momentum in the second frame when a red to the left corner appeared to roll off.

After a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, the 42-year-old has shown signs of coming back to form after winning the English Open earlier this year.

Higgins, who turns 50 later this year, was previously eliminated from the Masters for the third time in a row.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s second first-round encounter almost followed a similar pattern, with Murphy establishing a 4-0 advantage at the mid-session interval.

However, he was then pegged back to 4-3 by world number 16 Wilson, who had initially struggled to settle on his debut at the venue.

A break of 101 in little over seven minutes, plus further runs of 92 and 52, suggested that the momentum had shifted in Wilson’s favour.

Murphy, who won the Masters a decade ago, put his own incredible century break in the next frame to stop the decay, which was revealed in a gruesome ninth frame.

It didn’t feel very safe after the break. I’m very proud of how I rose up and won the penultimate frame with a century, Murphy told BBC Sport.

“You just want to get through. There are still some small areas where I think my game is improving, and there were times I thought I really did. The difference was probably in the end that four-frame burst.

Wilson cut a disjointed figure in contrast to a clearly happy Murphy, who was quick to celebrate his victory.

“I am fed up. I didn’t even enjoy that. I didn’t enjoy playing, I didn’t enjoy the atmosphere”, he said.

“I enjoyed it in one sense when I was coming back, and the crowd were getting involved, but my game is just shot. I wasn’t cueing well.