Adam Williams presents his prediction for the 2025 Masters Snooker match.
Neil Robertson
John Higgins was supposed to play Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round, but at the last moment Ronnie withdrew "for medical reasons". Ronnie played very poorly in his Championship League group matches, lost his composure at the end, so the reasons for Ronnie's withdrawal are more mental than medical. So, Neil Robertson took Ronnie's place in the tournament. Neil was behind in the match with John Higgins 5-1; Neil was not doing well and missed a lot. But Higgins unexpectedly missed at the most important moment of the match in an open position and did most of the work for the Australian. Then Neil's game came back to him, and he began to take one frame after another. In the end, Neil won the deciding frame 6-5, although everything was going to be Higgins' 6-1 victory. Robertson should draw conclusions about his game and treat the first match as an advance from the snooker universe. Neil got a lucky ticket to the Masters and then made a comeback from 5-1 down.
Shaun Murphy
Shaun Murphy started the match confidently against Gary Wilson and won the first four frames 4-0. But after the break, Wilson almost turned the match around. Gary quickly played back three frames with great breaks, but Shaun managed to cool his opponent's ardour with his century and then took the victory in the next frame. Shaun and Neil both had ups and downs in their matches. We think this type of game will be the same in the match between Murphy and Robertson.
Neil Robertson vs Shaun Murphy Prediction
The bookmakers consider Neil the favourite, which we cannot agree with. Neil is really playing better this season than in the previous one and won the English Open. But Shaun is also playing well and can punish Neil if he plays the same way as in the first half session of the match against Higgins. We'll offer a bet on the total of frames; we think we will see a close match that could end 6-4 or 6-5 either way.
