Ronnie O’Sullivan wins third consecutive Shanghai Masters

Murphy came into the clash looking to end a dismal recent run in finals having lost six of his last ranking event deciders.

However, he got off to the perfect start when he raced into a 3-0 lead against double-defending champion O’Sullivan, who had to battle his way past Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson to reach the final as breaks of 62 and 68 put The Magician in control.

Some strong safety play helped O’Sullivan get himself back into the match and The Rocket put together his own run to move in front 4-3 thanks to breaks of 61, 54 and 78.

Murphy, whose last invitational title came in the 2017 Champion of Champions when he beat O’Sullivan 10-8 in the final, dug deep and responded to go 5-4 up.

A break of 53 from O’Sullivan in the tenth frame meant that the two players went into the break level.

Murphy edged into a frame lead in the first of the second session, with a break of 66, but O'Sullivan levelled at 6-6. There was a century for both - O'Sullivan's 130 was the highest of the match - but the game was evenly poised before three consecutive frames for the Rocket gave him a 10-7 lead.

Murphy staged a fightback to be within a frame at 10-0 as he hit 90 in the penultimate frame, before a break of 86 gave O'Sullivan victory and his third consecutive Shanghai Masters.