Neil Robertson feels his game is in brilliant shape and is close to playing ‘scary snooker that you can’t stop’ despite a Masters defeat at the hands of Shaun Murphy. The Australian did play well in a 6-2 defeat to the Magician, who was in fantastic form, winning the match with a break of 120, snookering himself on the yellow in a bid for a 147.
![[Johnstone's Paint Masters 2025 - Day Five]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2194219951.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Robertson made breaks of 108, 79 and even a 66 in the fifth frame which he lost and only saw positives in his performance. ‘I really did very, very little wrong,’ he said. ‘People will play a lot worse than that and probably win their respective quarter-finals.
![[Johnstone's Paint Masters 2025 - Day Five]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-2194219653.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘You just have to say well played to Shaun, but I feel great about my game. It’s a shame because I definitely felt I could go all the way and win it with how I’ve been playing. ‘I’m just pleased my game’s back. The aggressiveness, the tempo, the rhythm.’.
Robertson has been playing slower than you would expect him to at times this season, but is working with a sports psychologist on speeding up to play at the same pace he does in practice. He feels that he is close to that now, working on lowering his heart rate by playing at the most comfortable pace rather than actually slowing down at the table.
He hopes this will produce the ‘scary snooker that you can’t stop’ that he plays in the practice room. ‘The biggest thing I’ve been working on the last couple of weeks from a mindset point of view is how do I replicate how I play in practice,’ Robertson explained.
