Neil Robertson made the most of his late call up to the Masters with a stunning fightback from 5-1 down to beat John Higgins 6-5.
Robertson, who won the prestigious top-16 event in 2012 and 2022, was gifted the chance to face Higgins in the opening match after reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan’s withdrawal.
It looked like being a brief visit to Alexandra Palace for Robertson as Higgins reeled off five frames in succession, but the Australian stormed back to take the next five and snatch an unlikely victory.
“An unbelievable match, I didn’t do a lot wrong really,” Robertson told the BBC. “John was playing incredibly well for 5-1 and he didn’t really do anything wrong.
“I played at my absolute best and I’m just so happy I could take my chance with Ronnie dropping out and give the crowd something to cheer about today.
“My target for the second half of the season is to bring my practice game and my talent (to matches). I don’t think many people have seen exactly what I can do. That match there shows how well I can actually play.
“That’s how I play in practice, I play that quick and people are constantly on at me about trying to replicate that.”
Robertson took a lengthy opening frame with a clearance of 48 to the pink, but scored just 16 points in the next five as breaks of 54, 78, 59, 86 and 66 helped Higgins cruised into a 5-1 lead.
Robertson stopped the rot with a break of 63 and the left-hander also won frame eight before producing superb breaks of 118 and 80 to force a decider.
Higgins got in first and made 35 before missing a tricky red to the middle and Robertson responded with a break of 57 before failing to move the penultimate red off side cushion.
Following a safety exchange Higgins left a red close to the middle pocket and Robertson cleared up to book his place in the quarter-finals.
A visibly disconsolate Higgins said: “He played tremendous to come back. Last frame I probably played the wrong shot going into the pack but he played great so every credit to him.”
PA
