The evening session match on the opening day of The Masters sees another former champion taking to the table inside Alexandra Palace when Neil Robertson begins his 2022 campaign against Anthony McGill, who will be looking to build on a modest record here.
Robertson will be widely expected to make it through to the quarter final from this match but he will know as well as anyone that when McGill fancies the job he can be as hard as anyone to get the better of so there is a bit of intrigue to this one.
Neil Robertson
When you consider the stature in the game that Neil Robertson has, it could be considered a surprise that the Australian has only won this competition once. He has lost in a couple of other finals but even just three finals feels like we have been a little short changed from ‘The Thunder from Down Under’. When you add in his World Championship record which is remarkably similar, it could be argued that Robertson could do with another one of these titles to cement his legacy in the game.
He certainly doesn’t have any issues winning more normal titles. He already has the English Open safely stocked up in his trophy cabinet this term and he was looking good to add the World Grand Prix to that until he ran into a vintage spell from Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final. That all means he is having a good season but he’s lost in the first round of this tournament in the last two years so I wonder if he has an internal issue with this event. It might be that you get no easy path into the tournament.
Anthony McGill
This will be just the second appearance for Anthony McGill at this famous tournament. He lost in the first round of his maiden entry into the event so he will be going in search of a first victory at The Masters in this match. If he can bring the form he takes to the Crucible Theatre to Alexandra Palace with him then you would give him every chance here, but there is a feeling that he often comes up short when he takes on the very best in the game.
The Scot does arrive here in good form though. He made the quarter final of the UK Championship and then went a round better in the Scottish Open prior to Christmas, losing on both occasions to Luca Brecel. When McGill comes out and attacks the table I think he is a better player than when he gets himself bogged down and retreats into a bunker but it might be that the latter style is of benefit to him as he is unlikely to outscore the Australian.
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Head to head
These two have gone up against each other on six previous occasions and Robertson has won five of those matches to the solitary effort of McGill. When you look at the frame count you see there is a big gulf between these two men as Robertson leads that 25-16 which suggests he wins his matches with more than a bit in hand. Their last meeting came at the UK Championship in 2020 when Robertson won 6-4 and that was their only previous meeting both at a Triple Crown event and also over the best of 11 frames. History is very much on the side of the Australian.
Betting
I think Neil Robertson will win this match but I’m not convinced it will be a scoring fest from the Australian. McGill has a habit of making it very hard to score with his excellent safety play and his ability to make the table scrappy and as I’ve highlighted further up this preview the recent record of Robertson at this tournament isn’t great so it might be that we don’t see him at his very best here. You can definitely get on top of Robertson by dragging him into a tactical battle and I expect to see McGill try that tactic here.
These two have only met once in the last five years which was over this format at the UK Championship in 2020. Robertson won 6-4 but he only made three 50s and a ton in the game so he was anything but free flowing and I expect something similar here. That makes me think the bet on this match is for Robertson to hit under 4.5 50+ breaks. There is a risk because he is such a heavy scorer but McGill is very good at messing the table up and making it awkward. I’ll take the under on the Robertson 50 breaks line.
Tips
WON – Back N.Robertson – Under 4.5 50+ breaks for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfair
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