Shaun Murphy is hoping to erase the memories of previous failures when he takes on John Higgins in the Masters semi-final at Alexandra Palace on Saturday (Murphy 5/4 Higgins 4/7).

The 29-year-old beat world number one Mark Selby 6-2 on Friday night to make it through to the last four for the first time.

Murphy raced into a 5-1 lead against the 2008 and 2010 winner, but Selby hit back with a 112 to keep himself in the game.

However, Murphy held on to make it through to finally make it through to a the Masters semi-final.

World number six Murphy was at odds to explain why he had failed to make it to the last four until now, but the 2005 World Champion is determined to make up for previous disappointments against Higgins on Saturday evening (Murphy 4/1 outright).

“It’s got a great history, a great heritage and it’s one of the first tournaments I went to as a young kid,” said Murphy.

“I’m not sure why it hasn’t been a good event for me in the past. But new venue, new start.

“There were a few nerves at the start. It was a big match for me, playing the world number one, a former champion here and one of my best mates. Luck more than judgement got me to 3-1 ahead but I think I finished the match pretty well.”

In the fourth quarter-final Neil Robertson overcame damage to his cue-tip to capitalise on some sloppy errors by Mark Williams to progress 6-4.

Robertson now goes on to face UK Championship winner Judd Trump in the first semi-final on Saturday afternoon.