LONDON — The Masters, snooker's most prestigious invitational, is renowned for its drama, its century breaks, and its nail-biting finishes. Yet, the 2024 edition at Alexandra Palace has been defined by a different, almost mathematical, peculiarity. On Tuesday, Neil Robertson completed an unprecedented eighth 6-2 victory in the tournament's first round, defeating Chris Wakelin to advance to the quarter-finals. In doing so, he didn't just win a match; he confirmed a bizarre statistical sequence that has left fans and pundits scratching their heads.
The Australian's win over Wakelin was a masterclass in controlled aggression, featuring two centuries and four further breaks over 50. But the scoreline was the story. This was the eighth consecutive Masters first-round match to finish 6-2, a run that began with defending champion Judd Trump's victory over Kyren Wilson and continued unbroken through the entire opening round. Robertson, the 2012 champion, was the man to both start and finish this improbable streak. "It's absolutely bizarre," Robertson said in his post-match interview. "You come to the Masters expecting every match to go down to the wire, and then this happens. Eight 6-2s in a row? I've never seen anything like it in my career."
The Anatomy of a Statistical Anomaly
To appreciate the sheer improbability, one must consider the context. The Masters is a 16-player, single-elimination tournament featuring only the world's top-ranked players. The first round is played over a best-of-11 frames format (first to six). The parity at this elite level means close matches are the norm. Historically, a mix of 6-5, 6-4, and 6-3 results dominates, with the occasional whitewash. For eight matches in a row to yield the identical, moderately one-sided score of 6-2 defies conventional wisdom. It suggests a strange convergence of form, where one player in each pairing found a dominant gear at precisely the same time, while their opponent managed just enough resistance to avoid a heavier defeat but never enough to truly threaten.
The sequence unfolded with a relentless rhythm:
- Match 1: Judd Trump 6-2 Kyren Wilson
- Match 2: Mark Williams 6-2 Ali Carter
- Match 3: Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-2 Ding Junhui
- Match 4: Shaun Murphy 6-2 Zhang Anda
- Match 5: Mark Selby 6-2 Robert Milkins
- Match 6: Barry Hawkins 6-2 Mark Allen
- Match 7: Jack Lisowski 6-2 Luca Brecel
- Match 8: Neil Robertson 6-2 Chris Wakelin
Robertson's Role as Bookend
For Neil Robertson, his 6-2 win was particularly significant. Not only did it extend the streak, but it also marked his own personal record. This was the eighth time Robertson has won a Masters first-round match by a 6-2 scoreline, more than any other player in the tournament's history. His clinical performance against a determined Wakelin showcased why he is so often associated with this margin. "I seem to get into a rhythm at 4-2 or 5-2 here," Robertson mused. "The matches are long enough to feel your way in, but short enough that if you get a burst of two or three frames, you can close it out before your opponent recovers. It's a dangerous lead to give me."
His victory was built on a foundation of heavy scoring. After sharing the first two frames, Robertson took control with breaks of 130 and 87 to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval. Wakelin, the reigning Shoot Out champion, pulled one back, but Robertson extinguished any hope of a comeback with a superb 107 century and a 65 in the next two frames to seal the 6-2 win. The pattern was complete, with Robertson acting as both instigator and terminator of the 6-2 sweep.
Contrasting Fortunes for the Favourites
Within this uniform scoreline, however, lay vastly different narratives. For some, like Trump and O'Sullivan, the 6-2 win was a statement of intent, a comfortable passage earned through superior play. For others, it was a reprieve or a disappointment. World Champion Luca Brecel's tame 6-2 loss to Jack Lisowski was a major upset, while UK Champion Mark Allen's defeat to Barry Hawkins by the same score was a surprise given his recent form. The 6-2 blanket, therefore, covered a multitude of stories: dominance, resilience, underachievement, and shock.
The End of the Streak and Looking Ahead
The statistical oddity finally met its end in the first quarter-final, where Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated Barry Hawkins 6-3. The spell was broken, but the conversation it sparked about the fine margins at the pinnacle of snooker continues. The streak highlighted how, at this level, a small dip in concentration or a minor technical flaw can be punished relentlessly, leading to a cascade of frames against. It also underscored the mental challenge; knowing that seven previous matches had ended 6-2, players may have felt an unconscious pressure to either emulate or avoid the fate, adding another layer to an already high-stakes environment.
For Robertson, the focus now shifts from statistical curiosity to silverware. His reward for navigating the 6-2 pattern is a quarter-final clash with the in-form Mark Selby. "The 6-2 thing is a funny story for the fans and the media," he acknowledged. "But in the arena, you're just focused on winning. However it comes. Now it's about resetting and preparing for a huge battle against Selby. The tournament really starts here."
The 2024 Masters will be remembered for its champion, but its opening act has already secured a unique place in snooker folklore. Eight matches, one identical scoreline. It was a sequence so statistically improbable that it transcended mere coincidence, becoming a captivating subplot that united the first round in numerical harmony. Neil Robertson, the '6-2 King' of the Masters, was the fitting architect of its beginning and its end, proving that even in a sport of infinite variables, sometimes the numbers just line up.
