Shaun Murphy on Masters anniversary, Ronnie O’Sullivan sympathy and finding form
Shaun Murphy plays his 20th straight Masters this year and he arrives at Alexandra Palace feeling pretty good about his game.
The Magician hasn’t landed a title this season but has looked in decent form and has lost to the eventual champion a remarkable five times so far this campaign.
The 42-year-old says he has actually had a tricky few months after relocating to near London and not having a practice base, but that has been sorted out and is feeling more comfortable than he has for a long while.
‘The game’s in good shape,’ Murphy told Metro. ‘It’s taken me a long time to get things sorted since the move here in terms of practice facilities. It’s been a difficult few months but I’ve finally got my practice room off the ground.
‘It’s amazing what regular, consistent practice can do for your game and your confidence! Whether I play any good or not at Alexandra Palace is up for debate but I’m as well prepared as I could be.’
Ahead of his first round clash with Gary Wilson at Ally Pally, Murphy is well aware of how many eventual champions have been beating him this campaign.
‘It’s been very similar to my season a couple of years ago when I was playing well and I just run into someone playing a bit better,’ he said.
‘So if Gary Wilson beats me on Sunday night, congratulations Gary on winning the Masters!
‘It’s a source of mild frustration but also an indication that it’s taken the best player every week to stop me. We just have to keep going and it’s a test of perseverance.’
Murphy and Wilson meet on Sunday evening with the winner taking on whoever comes through the match between Neil Robertson and John Higgins earlier in the afternoon.
Robertson has replaced Ronnie O’Sullivan in the draw after the Rocket withdrew from the event on Friday on medical grounds.
O’Sullivan looked extremely frustrated while playing in the Championship League earlier this week, smashing his cue after defeat to Rob Milkins and then withdrawing from that event before pulling out of the Masters, causing concern over his state of mind.
Murphy says no one in the sport has to deal with the pressure that O’Sullivan has been under for over 30 years and wishes him well.
‘Ronnie has been at the top end of the game since bursting on the scene in 1992, and I’ve often criticised his antics on and off the table, but one of the things I’ve always been clear about is that nobody has carried the weight of expectation that he does,’ said the Magician.
‘I had it for a little bit, Mark Selby did, Judd Trump has it for a bit, there are players who have had that weight of public expectation for periods of time, but he has carried it since he turned professional.
‘To achieve what he has achieved while carrying that weight of expectation must take immense strength of character and it can’t be easy to do that all the time. To be under such scrutiny and in the light so much must take a toll.
‘I hope that he’s okay and nothing too seriously wrong with him and we’ll see him back to his best sooner rather than later. ‘
The 2025 Masters is 10 years on from Murphy’s triumph at the event, when he demolished Robertson 10-2 in the ’15 final.
This year is one providing plenty of anniversaries and nostalgia for the Magician, but he wants to create more history rather than looking back on past success.
‘In some ways it feels like two years and in other ways it feels like 20,’ he said of the decade since his Masters win.
‘It’s a bit of a year for me, it’s 20 years since I won the Worlds, 20th consecutive Masters, 10 years since winning the Masters.
‘The negative side is that it’s 10 years since I won a Triple Crown event. It’s not for the want of trying and this year will be no different, I’ll be trying my absolute best.’
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