John Higgins overcomes Anthony McGill in 6-4 epic

Higgins went into an early 2-0 lead, only to be pegged back to 2-2 at the break as McGill produced a match-best break of 122 to level things up.

An inspired McGill continued to excel, building a 4-2 lead with breaks of 61 and 76 to leave Higgins sweating over his Masters future.

But the Scot is rarely easily beaten and responded with three frames of near faultless snooker, missing out on a 147 opportunity in the eighth with a missed black, before sealing the win in the tenth frame of the encounter.

"I felt I started well, looked like I could have gone 3-0 up, and then Anthony came back really strong and he was playing really well," Higgins said. "I'm delighted."

Higgins will face Ryan Day in the quarter-finals.