Neil Robertson won the Masters in 2012Venue: Alexandra Palace, London Dates: 9-16 JanuaryCoverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport appNeil Robertson beat seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 in an absorbing contest to reach the semi-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.
Robertson set the pace throughout but O'Sullivan repeatedly fought back until the Australian pulled clear late on.
The 2012 winner made three half centuries and superb breaks of 119 and 130 on his way to victory.
Robertson will now face John Higgins or Mark Williams in the last four on Saturday.
"I am really happy with getting through,"Robertson told BBC Sport. "My pot success was at 96%, so that tells you I was potting a lot of balls and not making too many mistakes.
"It was back and forth a little bit. My positional play could have been a little bit better but I pulled off some brilliant pressure shots especially bridging from the cushion.
"It was following a little bit of a pattern there [with O'Sullivan fighting back] and when he gets the crowd behind him and you get 2,000 people absolutely screaming.
"My debut was against Jimmy White at the Masters and I know how much a crowd can carry a player so it was important I responded well and I did that."
The crackling atmosphere inside the auditorium for this year's tournament has already been referenced by the likes of Higgins, Robertson and Williams.
And when O'Sullivan is in town that ratchets up even further, with 'the Rocket' receiving almost the full weight of support from the London crowd on his own patch.
Yet there was little for them to cheer early on as world number four Robertson took control against the player who beat him in the final of the World Grand Prix in December and sits directly above him in the world rankings.
The 39-year-old capitalised on some loose potting from O'Sullivan to lay an immediate marker with a run of 119 and went on to score 202 unanswered points as he established a 2-0 lead.
Six-time world champion O'Sullivan recovered by taking the third frame and punished a missed red to the middle to draw level at the mid-session interval with a break of 66.
Robertson added another half century and 130 as the players traded frames, with O'Sullivan's response, an 80th century at the Masters, and a 68, just as impressive.
However, Robertson had the final say sealing his victory with a break of 54 as he won consecutive frames to set up another mouth-watering encounter against another of the 'class of 92' next.
Analysis
Former world champion John Parrott on BBC Two
"Neil Robertson is a tough cookie. You have to be able to stand up to it and have something about you to be able to come out into that auditorium. It is like playing an away match.
"You have to try and silence the crowd which he did early on but he was very strong at the finish."
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