A packed house at Alexandra Palace will be in place to see the first match of The Masters on Sunday afternoon and it sees the defending champion Neil Robertson beginning his title defence when he takes on Shaun Murphy.
Robertson hasn’t won a title yet this season so he’ll be doubly eager to go well this week. Murphy also hasn’t won a crown this term but he is trending in the right direction and might fancy his chances of an upset here.
Neil Robertson
This has been a consistent season for Neil Robertson but as someone who prides himself on lifting silverware it is a campaign which he won’t remember too fondly so far. On another year Robertson could have had four trophies to his name this term having reached the semi-final that many times this year but he has hit a bit of a wall in the last four and has lost all of those matches, the latest coming in the English Open to Mark Selby.
Robertson doesn’t have a brilliant record in this tournament either. He has won it twice, in 2012 and last year, and he has also lost in two finals but a man of his quality will expected to have lifted this crown more than twice. Prior to winning the tournament last season, Robertson had gone down in the first round the two years before that so there is all or nothing about his life at Alexandra Palace. As defending champion he’ll be keen to get off to a winning start though.
Shaun Murphy
This has not been the season that Shaun Murphy would have wanted in terms of results but he has mentioned a couple of times that he has been content with his performances but has run into opponents who have been on top of their game against him. While that is true, with the world final of a couple of years ago coming off his ranking at the end of the season he needs results not performances, although for this week at least he can play without the pressure of the ranking strain hindering him.
Murphy made the quarter final of the UK Championship but that is the only time he has made the last eight of a tournament this season, something he’ll be looking to emulate with a win in this match. His record in The Masters is mixed. He won it in 2015 and lost in the final in 2012 but he has won his first round match in three of the last four years which should give him some confidence and belief coming into this one.
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Head-to-head
These two have met on 28 previous occasions with Robertson having come out on top in 18 of those past meetings to the 10 of Murphy. When we look at the 153-137 frame count in favour of the Australian it would appear that he wins his matches fairly comfortably. This will be their third meeting at The Masters. Robertson won their first two but Murphy gained his revenge in the 2015 when he won 10-2. This will be the sixth time they have met over the best of 11 frames with Robertson 4-1 up in the previous five. History would be very much on the side of the Australian here.
Betting
Opening matches of this tournament are historically tight affairs and I see no reason why this won’t follow that trend. I think the one thing that we can guarantee is the white ball is going to hurt at the end of it given the way these two men hit the ball. There is going to be a number of long pots slammed home and plenty of decent breaks but at some point you would think this will get edgy and then we’ll see who can hold their nerve the best.
Both men have experienced the Alexandra Palace atmosphere plenty of times which is important because it is a unique vibe at this place and it is one of those arenas you either sink or swim in. Both of these men have swum successfully here so they should be in position to play well in this match. The sport needs a good opening match this week to put the focus on the table rather than what is going on off it and I think we can see more than 9.5 frames in this first game of the tournament.
Tips
Back Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Betway
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