Neil Robertson. Picture by Monique Limbos

AUSTRALIAN Neil Robertson left the Alexandra Palace a happy man after he sailed into the Dafabet Masters semi-finals after a 6-1 win over Ali Carter.

Robertson will face a mouth-watering showdown against defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan on Saturday after the Rocket beat Marco Fu by the same scoreline earlier on in the day.

Robertson won the Masters two years ago and a repeat of this performance in the coming days could see him lift the prestigious trophy once again.

Breaks of 128 and 57 gave him an early 2-0 lead before Carter won the third frame on the final black following a break of 63. But Robertson restored his two-frame lead with a break of 98 put him 3-1 up at the interval.

After the restart Robertson stretched his lead to 4-1 after Carter missed a pink to the middle pocket.

And that proved to be the end for Carter, playing his biggest match since being given the all clear from lung cancer, as Robertson finished the match in style with breaks of 127 and 84.

“It was one of the best matches I’ve played in my career, every department was spot on,” Robertson said.

“I scored heavily and my safety was brilliant, I can’t fault my performance. I knew that if I played well the crowd would appreciate it, even though they were cheering Ali on when I made a mistake.”