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Higgins however rallied taking the next six frames in a row with breaks of 83, 54, 85 and 60 to take a 7-2 lead. Stevens fought back taking the following three frames with several
breaks over 50 but Higgins closed out the match in style knocking in breaks of 75, 120 and 103 to progress.
Higgins will now face the winner of Michael Judge and Ryan Day in the second round as he aims to become the first player to retain the title since Stephen Hendy back in 1996.
The only other match to finish to date saw Neil Robertson see off Nigel Bond 10-4 with ease. Eight breaks over 50 helped Robertson to the win with Bond compiling the high break of
the match with a superb 125.
John Higgins 10-5 Matthew Stevens
0-81(46), 125(37,88)-0, 0-112(112), 67-23, 83(83)-0, 91(54)-0, 67-42, 85(85)-0, 77(60)-4, 25-68(52), 1-99(58,41),
18-62, 75(75)-1, 124(120)-11, 103(103)-29
Neil Robertson 10-4 Nigel Bond
74(59)-10, 95(70)-0, 78-50, 16-79, 84(70)-48, 80(80)-0, 0-125(125), 64-32,
65-19, 33(33)-73(67), 114(38,63)-7, 57(56)-61(34), 68(57)-8, 84(84)-0
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