Neil Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and former List of world number one snooker players, world number one. The only Australian to have won a ranking event, he is also the only player from outside the United Kingdom to have completed snooker's Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown, having won the World Snooker Championship, World Championship in 2010 World Snooker Championship, 2010, the Masters (snooker), Masters in 2012 Masters (snooker), 2012 and 2022 Masters (snooker), 2022, and the UK Championship in 2013 UK Championship, 2013, 2015 UK Championship, 2015 and 2020 UK Championship, 2020. He has claimed a career total of 23 ranking titles, having won at least one professional tournament every year since 2006. A prolific break-builder, Robertson has compiled more than 850 century breaks in professional competition, including five maximum breaks. He is the fourth player in professional snooker history to reach the 800-century mark, after Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Judd Trump. In the 2013–14 snooker season, 2013–14 season, he became the first player to make 100 centuries in a single season, finishing with a record 103 centuries.

Life and career

Early career

Robertson began his snooker career at 14, when he became the youngest player to make a century break in an Australian ranking event. He began his professional career in the 1998/1999 season. Then, when he was 17 years old, he reached the third qualifying round of the 1999 World Snooker Championship, 1999 World Championship. In July 2003, Robertson won the IBSF World Under-21 Championship, World Under-21 Snooker Championship in New Zealand. This earned him a vital wildcard spot on the subsequent World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, WPBSA Main Tour. In 2003, he won the Masters Qualifying Event, qualifying tournament for a wildcard place at the 2004 Masters (snooker), 2004 Masters, where he subsequently lost 2–6 to Jimmy White in the first round. In the 2004–05 snooker season, 2004–05 season, he moved up to the top 32 in the rankings, reaching the final stages of six of the eight tournaments, despite having to play at least two qualifying matches for each one. He qualified for the final stages of the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship, losing 7–10 to Stephen Hendry in the first round. In the 2005–06 snooker season, 2005–06 season, he continued to progress, moving up to the top 16 of the rankings at the end of the season. He reached four quarter-finals in the season, including the 2006 World Snooker Championship, 2006 World Championships, in which he fought back from 8–12 down to level at 12–12 against eventual champion Graeme Dott, before losing the final frame by inadvertently potting the final pink, which he needed on the table in his attempts to snooker Dott.

Breakthrough: first ranking title

He made his breakthrough in the 2006–07 snooker season, 2006–07 season. After finishing top of his group at the 2006 Grand Prix (snooker)#Group 2D, 2006 Grand Prix's round robin stage (he lost only one match, his opener against Nigel Bond by 2–3), Robertson beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–1 in the quarter-finals. He went on to the semis, being only the fourth Australian ever to do so in a ranking event. He beat Alan McManus 6–2 to reach his first major final, where he faced a fellow first-time finalist, the unseeded Jamie Cope, whom he beat comfortably by 9–5 to win his first ever professional ranking tournament. The win earned Robertson pound sterling, £60,000, his highest amount of money earned in one tournament. Robertson had early exits in both the 2006 UK Championship, UK Championship and the 2007 Masters (snooker), Masters, but found his form again en route to the final of the 2007 Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open. He defeated Stephen Hendry 5–3, making a break of 141 in the last frame, then recovered from 4–3 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–4 in the quarter-finals. He beat Steve Davis 6–3 in the semi-finals, and surprise finalist Andrew Higginson 9–8 in the final to take the title. He led 6–2 after the first session, then dropped six frames in a row to come within one frame of defeat, but took the remaining three frames to win the match. He reached the second round of the 2007 World Snooker Championship, 2007 World Championship, losing 10–13 to Ronnie O'Sullivan despite winning six frames in a row at one stage. Robertson started the 2007–08 snooker season, 2007–08 season poorly, making early exits in three of the first four ranking events, as well as at the 2008 Masters (snooker), 2008 Masters and the 2008 Malta Cup. He did reach the quarter-finals of the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy though, after wins over Jamie Cope and Ian McCulloch (snooker player), Ian McCulloch. He finished the season ranked 10th, but outside the top sixteen on the one-year list.

2008–09 season

After a disappointing start to the 2008–09 snooker season, 2008–09 season, Robertson reached the final of the 2008 Bahrain Championship, where he played Matthew Stevens. The match lasted almost six hours in total, with the Australian edging it 9–7. During the 2009 Masters (snooker), 2009 Masters, Robertson and opponent Stephen Maguire set a record of five consecutive century breaks. Robertson made two centuries and Maguire made three, the latter sealing a 6–3 win over the Australian with his third. At the 2009 World Snooker Championship, 2009 World Championship, Robertson defeated Steve Davis, Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire to reach the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, World Championship for the first time, before losing to Shaun Murphy 14–17 (after recovering from 7–14 behind to level at 14–14).

2009–10 season

In October 2009, Robertson clinched the 2009 Grand Prix (snooker), 2009 Grand Prix trophy in Glasgow with a 9–4 win over China's Ding Junhui in the final. His semi-final match with defending champion John Higgins was won on the final black of the deciding frame. He also made his 100th career century during the event. Robertson's fourth title made him the most successful player from outside the UK and Ireland in ranking tournaments, although Ding Junhui equalled his total at that season's UK Championship. On 1 April 2010, Robertson made the first official maximum break of his career in his second round match in the 2010 China Open (snooker), 2010 China Open against Peter Ebdon. At the 2010 World Snooker Championship, 2010 World Championship, Robertson defeated Fergal O'Brien 10–5 in the first round. In his second round match against Martin Gould, Robertson trailed 0–6 and 5–11 before recovering to win the match 13–12. He defeated Steve Davis 13–5 in the quarter-finals. He faced Ali Carter in the semi-finals, winning 17–12 to reach the final. There he defeated 2006 champion Graeme Dott 18–13 to become only the third player from outside the UK, only the second from outside the UK and Ireland, and the first Australian to become world champion in the modern era of the game. (Although the record books show Australian Horace Lindrum triumphed in 1952, that was the year when the sport's leading players staged a boycott so Lindrum has not been widely regarded as a credible world champion.) The win took Robertson to a career-high ranking of world number two in the following season.

2010–11 season

At the start of the 2010–11 snooker season, new season Robertson lost in the first round of the 2010 Shanghai Masters to Peter Ebdon. However, at the 2010 World Open (snooker), World Open, where he was drawn in the last 64 against Graeme Dott in a repeat of their world final, Robertson won 3–1, then went on to beat David Morris (snooker player), David Morris, Andrew Higginson, Ricky Walden and Mark Williams (snooker player), Mark Williams before producing an assured display to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5–1 in the final, to confirm his position as the eighth world number one in snooker. He was invited to the 2010 Premier League Snooker, Premier League Snooker, where he reached the semi-final, but lost 1–5 against O'Sullivan. Robertson reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 UK Championship, UK Championship, where he lost 7–9 to Shaun Murphy, then also reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 Masters (snooker), Masters, but lost again, by 4–6 to Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen. He was defeated in the first round of the 2011 German Masters, German Masters too. At the next two ranking tournaments he lost in the second round, 1–4 against Graeme Dott at the 2011 Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open and 1–5 against Peter Ebdon at the 2011 China Open (snooker), China Open, and he could not defend his 2011 World Snooker Championship, World Snooker Championship title either, as he lost 8–10 in the first round against eventual finalist Judd Trump.

2011–12 season

Robertson's season started in a disappointing fashion as he lost 4–5 to Dominic Dale in the last 16 of his home tournament, 2011 Australian Goldfields Open, the Australian Goldfields Open. However, his form soon improved and at the next world ranking event, 2011 Shanghai Masters, the Shanghai Masters, he dismissed Liang Wenbo, Michael Holt (snooker player), Michael Holt and John Higgins, before losing 5–6 to Mark Williams (snooker player), Mark Williams in a tightly contested semi-final. His first silverware of the season came in Warsaw at the Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Event 6, PTC Event 6, where he beat Ricky Walden 4–1 in the final. This success was quickly followed up by another PTC title in Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Event 6, Event 8 where he won by a 4–1 scoreline again, this time against Judd Trump. Victory ensured that Robertson maintained his record of never having lost in a ranking event final. He would later finish third in the Players Tour Championship 2011/2012#Order of Merit, Order of Merit and therefore qualify for the Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Finals, 2012 PTC Finals. His fine form continued into the 2011 UK Championship, UK Championship in York, where he beat Tom Ford (snooker player), Tom Ford, Graeme Dott and Ding Junhui en route to his first semi-final in the event. He played Judd Trump and lost in an extremely tight encounter, 7–9, with there never being more than two frames between the players throughout the match. Robertson won the 2012 Masters (snooker), 2012 Masters by defeating Shaun Murphy 10–6 in his first Masters final. He beat Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen and Mark Williams in the opening two rounds, before facing Judd Trump in the semi-finals for the second successive major tournament. He exacted revenge for his defeat in York a month earlier by winning 6–3, and said after the match that he had been spurred on by fans cheering when Trump fluked shots. Such was Robertson's feeling that he lacked support from the local crowd, he offered to buy a pint of beer for anyone attending his matches in an Australian hat or shirt, but only one person heeded this call in his semi-final match against Mark Williams. In the final he opened up a 5–3 lead over Murphy in the first session and, although he lost the first frame upon the resumption of play, won four frames in a row to stand on the edge of the title. Despite a brief fightback from the Englishman, Robertson secured the frame he needed with a break of 70 to become the fourth man from outside the United Kingdom to win the event. Robertson did not advance beyond the second round in any of his next three ranking events, and then saw his run of televised finals without defeat finally come to an end when he was beaten 4–0 by Stephen Lee (snooker player), Stephen Lee in the Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Finals, PTC Finals. He lost in the quarter-finals of the 2012 China Open (snooker), China Open 3–5 to Peter Ebdon, before drawing 1997 World Snooker Championship, 1997 champion Ken Doherty in the first round of the 2012 World Snooker Championship, World Championship. Robertson won the match 10–4, then beat qualifier David Gilbert (snooker player), David Gilbert 13–9 to set up a quarter-final clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan. Robertson was 5–3 ahead after the first session, but his opponent produced a match defining run of six frames in a row and went on to win 13–10. Robertson finished the season ranked world number seven.

2012–13 season

Robertson once again began the 2012–13 snooker season, season poorly as he lost in the first round of the 2012 Wuxi Classic, Wuxi Classic, and the second round of both the 2012 Australian Goldfields Open, Australian Goldfields Open and the 2012 Shanghai Masters, Shanghai Masters. He returned to form at the minor-ranking European Tour 2012/2013 – Event 2, Gdynia Open in Poland by defeating Jamie Burnett 4–3 in the final. At the inaugural 2012 International Championship, International Championship in Chengdu, China, Robertson saw off Ryan Day (snooker player), Ryan Day, Matthew Stevens, Lü Haotian, and Shaun Murphy in the semi-finals by the scoreline of 9–5, to reach the final. There he led Judd Trump 8–6, but lost four consecutive frames to suffer an 8–10 defeat. He enjoyed a comfortable passage into the quarter-finals of the 2012 UK Championship, UK Championship with 6–1 and 6–2 wins over Tom Ford (snooker player), Tom Ford and Barry Hawkins respectively, to face Mark Selby. Robertson squandered a 4–0 lead to lose 4–6 in a match that finished after midnight. Robertson started 2013 by attempting to defend his 2013 Masters (snooker), Masters title. He produced a comeback in the first round against Ding Junhui by taking the final three frames in a 6–5 triumph, shouting "You beauty!" when he potted the clinching red. Another deciding frame followed in the next round against Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen, with Robertson making a 105 break in it to progress to the semi-finals, where he had a more comfortable 6–2 win against Shaun Murphy. Robertson won three frames from 3–8 down to Mark Selby in the final, before Selby held off the fightback by taking the two frames he required to win 10–6. Robertson was beaten in the semi-finals of both the 2013 German Masters, German Masters (2–6 to Ali Carter) and the 2013 World Open (snooker), World Open (5–6 to Matthew Stevens). Robertson's Gdynia Open victory earlier in the season helped him finish fifth on the PTC Order of Merit to qualify for the Players Tour Championship 2012/2013 – Finals, Finals. Wins over Jamie Burnett, Barry Hawkins, Xiao Guodong and Tom Ford saw him reach the final. He faced Ding Junhui, and from 3–0 ahead went on to lose 3–4, meaning that Robertson, after having won his first six, had now lost his last three ranking finals, along with a fourth major final at the Masters. Robertson returned to form at the 2013 China Open (snooker), China Open and won his seventh career ranking event. He advanced to the final by defeating Jimmy Robertson (snooker player), Jimmy Robertson 5–0, Mark Allen 5–1, Marcus Campbell 5–2 and Stephen Maguire 6–5 (after fighting back from 2–4 down). He exacted revenge over Mark Selby for his 10–6 Masters loss in January by beating the Englishman by the same scoreline, moving to world number two in the process. Despite appearing to be in top form for the 2013 World Snooker Championship, World Championship, he lost to Robert Milkins 8–10 in the first round, saying afterwards that he should have gone out to win the match rather than getting too involved in safety. Robertson finished the season ranked world number two for the second time in his career.

2013–14 season

In May 2013, Robertson made the second official maximum break of his career in the 2013 Wuxi Classic#Qualifying, Wuxi Classic qualifiers against Mohamed Khairy. In the main stage of the tournament, he defeated John Higgins 10–7 in the final to secure his eighth ranking event title. He came from 2–5 down against Higgins to lead 8–5 before withstanding a fightback to complete the victory and ensure his second consecutive ranking event win in China. In his home tournament, the 2013 Australian Goldfields Open, Australian Goldfields Open, Robertson made it past the second round for the first time in the three stagings of the event, before continuing his run by beating Joe Perry (snooker player), Joe Perry 5–2 in the quarter-finals and Mark Selby 6–3 in the semis. He would have become the first man since Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2003 to win back to back ranking events in the same season, but he lost 6–9 to Hong Kong's Marco Fu in the final. On 8 December 2013, he defeated Mark Selby 10–7 in the final of the 2013 UK Championship, UK Championship, becoming the first overseas player to win all Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown events. In January 2014, during the 2014 Championship League, Championship League, Robertson reached 63 century breaks in a single professional season, breaking the previous record of 61 centuries held by Judd Trump. By early February, he had reached 78 centuries, a feat that Ronnie O'Sullivan called "probably the most phenomenal scoring in the history of the game." In February, he made his 88th century of the season while playing Mark Williams (snooker player), Mark Williams in the last 32 of the 2014 Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open, but went on to lose 4–3. At the 2014 World Open (snooker), World Open, he extended his season total to 92 centuries, but lost 5–4 on a re-spotted black against Marco Fu in the last 32. At the 2014 China Open (snooker), China Open he won a trio of deciding frames before beating Graeme Dott and Ali Carter to reach the final, where he lost 10–5 to Ding Junhui. He added one more century break during the event, and extended the total to 99 in his first two 2014 World Snooker Championship, World Championship matches. He missed a black on a break of 94 that would have seen him reach the 100 milestone during his win over Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen. However, in the 22nd frame of his quarter-final clash against Judd Trump, Robertson made his 100th century break of the season, which also levelled the scores at 11–11. Robertson, having trailed 6–2 and 11–8, went on to win the match 13–11 to set up a semi-final against Mark Selby. Selby, the eventual champion, defeated him 17–15 in a high-quality match that saw Robertson make three more century breaks to end his tally for the season at 103. He ended the campaign as the world number three.

2014–15 season

Robertson beat Shaun Murphy on the final black in the quarter-finals of the 2014 Wuxi Classic to win 5–4, and then beat Barry Hawkins 6–3 to reach the opening ranking event final of the 2014–15 snooker season, 2014–15 season. He played friend and practice partner Joe Perry (snooker player), Joe Perry, and rallied from 3–0 behind to lead 8–6, before Perry won three frames in a row to be one away from the title. Robertson then produced breaks of 87 and 78 to win the title 10–9, and paid tribute to Perry's influence on his own career after the match. A week later he comfortably won through to the final of his home event, the 2014 Australian Goldfields Open, Australian Goldfields Open, without any of his opponents taking more than two frames off him, but he was beaten in the final for the second year in a row, this time 9–5 by Judd Trump. Robertson, however, reclaimed the world number one spot afterwards. He then had early exits at the 2014 Shanghai Masters (snooker), Shanghai Masters and the 2014 International Championship, International Championship, and was knocked out at the semi-final stage of the 2014 Champion of Champions, Champion of Champions 6–4, by Trump again. Robertson trailed Graeme Dott 5–0 in the fourth round of the 2014 UK Championship, UK Championship, but then made five breaks above 50, which included two centuries, to draw level, before falling short of a big comeback as Dott took the final frame to win 6–5. He produced his best snooker to reach the final of the 2015 Masters (snooker), Masters by defeating Ali Carter 6–1 in the quarter-finals and Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–1 in the semis. The latter victory marked the first time O'Sullivan had been eliminated at that stage of the event after 10 previous wins, and also ended a run of 15 consecutive wins in all competitions. However, in the final Robertson suffered the heaviest defeat in the Masters since 1988, as Shaun Murphy thrashed him 10–2. Next month, Robertson did not lose a frame in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2015 German Masters, German Masters, but when he accidentally potted the black in the deciding frame, Stephen Maguire got the two snookers he required and went on to clear the table to win 5–4. At the 2015 Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open, in his fourth round match against Gary Wilson (snooker player), Gary Wilson, Robertson was forced to concede the fifth frame when he failed to hit a red three times in a row, then lost the next frame to exit the tournament. The Australian won his only Players Tour Championship 2014/2015, European Tour event this year at the European Tour 2014/2015 – Event 6, Gdynia Open by beating Mark Williams (snooker player), Mark Williams 4–0, meaning he has now claimed three titles in Poland during his career. Robertson enjoyed comfortable 10–2 and 13–5 wins over Jamie Jones (snooker player), Jamie Jones and Ali Carter to face Barry Hawkins in the quarter-finals of the 2015 World Snooker Championship, World Championship. It was an extremely high quality encounter as both players compiled four centuries to match a Crucible record in a best of 25 frame match, but eventually Robertson lost 13–12. He made 11 centuries in the event, which included a 143 in the first round, a 145 in the second, and breaks of 141 and 142 in the final session of the match. Despite this, Robertson, who had won four ranking titles since his world title in 2010, stated that he believed he had underachieved in his career.

2015–16 season

Robertson exited in round one of the first two ranking events in the 2015–16 snooker season, 2015–16 season, and lost 6–4 to Mark Selby in the quarter-finals of the 2015 International Championship, International Championship. He then claimed his first major title in over 12 months by beating Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen 10–5 in the final of the 2015 Champion of Champions, Champion of Champions. At the 2015 UK Championship, UK Championship, in their third round match, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh missed the final black for a 147, before Robertson made a 145 break in the next frame and went on to win 6–2. After that he saw off Stephen Maguire 6–1, John Higgins 6–5 and Mark Selby 6–0 to capture the title for the second time with a 10–5 win against Liang Wenbo. Robertson became the first player to make a 147 break in a Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown final in the sixth frame of this match. It was also the first final in the event not to feature a player from the United Kingdom. Robertson and Judd Trump set a record of six centuries in a best-of-11 frame match (four from Trump and two from Robertson) in the second round of the 2016 Masters (snooker), Masters, with Trump progressing 6–5. Robertson proclaimed the match as the greatest ever at the Masters. Later he was on the receiving end of a 147 break during his quarter-final match with Ding Junhui in the 2016 Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open, but the Australian prevailed 5–2. He then overcame Mark Allen 6–4 in the semi-finals to set up a final with Ronnie O'Sullivan. Despite leading 5–2, Robertson lost 9–5 as O'Sullivan produced a comeback by winning seven frames in a row. Following this he ended the season with three first round defeats.

2016–17 season

At the 2016 Riga Masters, Riga Masters, Robertson did not lose more than one frame in any match as he reached the final, in which he secured his 12th ranking title with a 5–2 win over Michael Holt (snooker player), Michael Holt. He reached the semi-finals of the 2016 World Open (snooker), World Open, but lost 6–2 to Joe Perry (snooker player), Joe Perry. He also played in the semi-finals of the 2016 European Masters, European Masters where he was defeated 6–0 by Ronnie O'Sullivan, then lost 6–3 to Peter Lines in the first round of the 2016 UK Championship, UK Championship. Similar to last year, he was beaten in the quarter-finals of the 2017 Masters (snooker), Masters, by O'Sullivan 6–3, and was also knocked out at the same stage in the 2017 World Grand Prix, World Grand Prix, the 2017 Gibraltar Open, Gibraltar Open and the 2017 Players Championship (snooker), Players Championship. After losing 13–11 to Marco Fu in the second round of the 2017 World Snooker Championship, World Championship in a performance he described as garbage, Robertson said that next season he would be playing with more passion and aggression to improve his game and make it more interesting for the viewing public.

2017–18 season

Robertson was the winner of the 2017 Hong Kong Masters, besting Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–3. Later in the season he reached the quarter-finals of the 2017 English Open (snooker), English Open where he lost 5–3 to Anthony McGill. In December he won the 2017 Scottish Open (snooker), Scottish Open, coming from 4–8 down to win 9–8 in the final against Cao Yupeng. In 2018 Robertson was a quarter-finalist yet again at the 2018 Players Championship (snooker), 2018 Players Championship, but suffered a 1–6 defeat by Judd Trump. He exited the 2018 China Open (snooker), 2018 China Open at the semi-finals, losing 6–10 to Barry Hawkins.

2018–19 season

At the 2018 Riga Masters, Robertson won the event for the second time by defeating Stuart Carrington in the semi-final and then Jack Lisowski 5–2 in the final. He also reached the final at the 2018 International Championship, but lost 5–10 against Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen, to whom Robertson also lost the quarter-final of the 2018 Champion of Champions 1–6 a few days later. In the season's second half, Robertson won the 2019 Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open, winning 9–7 over Stuart Bingham, then became runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2019 Players Championship (snooker), Players Championship and the 2019 Tour Championship, Tour Championship. He also made it into the semi-finals of the 2019 Masters (snooker), Masters, but lost to eventual winner Judd Trump 6–4. Nearing the end of the season Robertson won the 2019 China Open (snooker), China Open after defeating Lisowski again, this time 11–4. At the 2019 World Snooker Championship, World Snooker Championship, he beat Michael Georgiou 10–1, then defeated Shaun Murphy 13–6 in the second round, and finally played John Higgins in the quarter-finals, where he lost 10–13.

2019–20 season

Robertson started the season as world number four. Due to technical issues linked with the flight, he was not able to defend his title at the opening ranking tournament of the season, the 2019 Riga Masters, Riga Masters. Later he reached the semi-final at the non-ranking 2019 Shanghai Masters, Shanghai Masters, but he was beaten 6–10 by Ronnie O'Sullivan. In November, Robertson won the invitational 2019 Champion of Champions, Champion of Champions after defeating Judd Trump 10–9 in the final. However, in the first half of the season he failed to reach the quarter-finals at any ranking tournament. As world number five, he had qualified for the 2020 Masters (snooker), Masters, but lost in the first round to Stephen Maguire 5–6 in spite of leading 5–1. After the Masters, he produced fabulous form, reaching three consecutive ranking finals at the 2020 European Masters (2019–20 season), European Masters, 2020 German Masters, German Masters and the 2020 World Grand Prix (2019–20 season), World Grand Prix. He won the European Masters, whitewashing Zhou Yuelong 9–0, and the World Grand Prix by defeating Graeme Dott 10–8. At the German Masters, he fell short to world number one Judd Trump with the result of 6–9. As a result of these performances he reached second place in the world rankings again. Robertson's title defence ended at the quarter-final stage of the 2020 Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open after being whitewashed by Kyren Wilson 0–5. He also lost in the quarter-finals both in the 2020 Tour Championship and the 2020 World Snooker Championship.

2020–21 season

In the first half of the season, Robertson was the runner up of the 2020 English Open (snooker), 2020 English Open, losing it 9–8 to Judd Trump, and the 2020 Champion of Champions, being bested by Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen 10–6. In December, he won his third UK Championship title, defeating Trump 10–9 in the 2020 UK Championship, 2020 edition of the tournament. He went on to lose in the first round at the 2020 World Grand Prix (2020–21 season), World Grand Prix though, by 4–2 to Robert Milkins, and at the start of the second half of the season he suffered yet another 6–5 first round exit at the 2021 Masters (snooker), Masters, losing this time to Yan Bingtao, the event's eventual winner. In March, he won the 2021 Tour Championship, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–4 in the final. He was quarter-finalist three other times throughout the season, in the 2020 European Masters (2020–21 season), the 2021 Players Championship (snooker), 2021 Players Championship, and yet again in the 2021 World Snooker Championship, World Championship, for the third time in a row.

2021–22 season

In November, Robertson won the 2021 English Open (snooker), English Open by defeating John Higgins 9–8. Later that month, he was to defend his 2021 UK Championship, UK Championship title, but got knocked out in the first round by John Astley (snooker player), John Astley. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2021 Champion of Champions, where he was defeated 6–4 by Kyren Wilson, and the final of the 2021 World Grand Prix, which he lost 10–8 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. In the second half of the season, he won the 2022 Masters (snooker), Masters for the second time. After that, he won the 2022 Players Championship (snooker), Players Championship, beating Barry Hawkins both times, by the scoreline of 10–4 and 10–5 respectively. In April, he defended his 2022 Tour Championship, Tour Championship title, winning 10–9 against John Higgins in the final, coming back after trailing 8–3 and 9–4 in the match. At the end of the season, he made his fifth maximum break at the 2022 World Snooker Championship, World Championship, in the 19th frame of his second round match against Jack Lisowski, though eventually he ended up losing 12–13 in a decider.

2022–23 season

Robertson has missed the 2022 Championship League (ranking), Championship League event in Leicester, as well as the 2022 European Masters (2022–23 season), European Masters in Fürth and the 2022 British Open, British Open in Milton Keynes. He has admitted he is comfortable with his decision to opt out of the early action of the new snooker season and said:

'' I used to play in most tournaments, but I'm playing for fun now. I've got a young family now so I don't need to play in every tournament these days. My family is really important to me, they're my inspiration to win.''

He did participate in the 2022 World Mixed Doubles (snooker), 2022 World Mixed Doubles though, ending up as the winning pair with Mink Nutcharut, beating Mark Selby and Rebecca Kenna 4–2. Later on in the season, he exited at the semi-final stage of the 2022 Hong Kong Masters, Hong Kong Masters, losing to Ronnie O'Sullivan 6–4, the 2022 Northern Ireland Open, Northern Ireland Open, being beaten by Mark Allen (snooker player), Mark Allen 6–2, the 2022 Scottish Open, Scottish Open, in which he was defeated by Joe O'Connor (snooker player), Joe O'Connor 6–3, and the 2022 English Open (snooker), English Open, where his 6–4 loss to Mark Selby saw the end of his title defence.

Personal life

Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria to Ian Robertson and Alison Hunter who are both British nationals. Robertson attended Norwood Secondary College in Ringwood, Victoria. He is now based in Cambridge, England. He has previously practised at Willie Thorne's snooker club in Leicester and Cambridge Snooker Centre, but is now based at WT's Snooker and Sporting Club in Cambridge. He has a younger brother, Marc Robertson, a former snooker amateur and current professional pool player. Robertson has two children with his Norwegian wife Mille Fjelldal, whom he met in 2008 and married in August 2021. Fjelldal had been due to give birth to the couple's first child while Robertson was playing in the 2010 World Snooker Championship, 2010 World Championship final, but their son Alexander was not born until 12 May 2010. Their daughter Penelope was born on 16 March 2019. Robertson has spoken publicly about supporting his wife through her struggles with anxiety and depression, while also acknowledging how these issues affected his commitment to professional snooker. Robertson has been a vegan since 2014. He began to pursue a plant-based diet following advice from fellow snooker professional Peter Ebdon as well as his admiration for vegan athlete Carl Lewis. Robertson is a friend of former England footballer John Terry, and is an avid supporter of Chelsea FC. In June 2016, he became ambassador of electronic snooker simulator app Snooker Live Pro. He was an avid gamer but gave up the hobby in April 2017, believing he was spending too much time playing games and it was affecting his snooker form.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 36 (23 titles)

Minor-ranking finals: 5 (4 titles)

Non-ranking finals: 12 (7 titles)

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Pro-am finals: 2

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Team finals: 2 (2 titles)

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! scope="col" style="width:80px;", Outcome ! scope="col" style="width:20px;", No. ! scope="col" style="width:50px;", Year ! scope="col" style="width:200px;", Championship ! scope="col" style="width:200px;", Team/partner ! scope="col" style="width:200px;", Opponent in the final ! scope="col" style="text-align:center; width:50px;", Score , - , style="background:#98fb98;", Winner , 1. , 2008 , World Mixed Doubles Championship , Reanne Evans , Joe Perry (snooker player), Joe Perry
Leah Willett , align="center", 3–1 , - , style="background:#98fb98;", Winner , 2. , 2022 , 2022 World Mixed Doubles (snooker), World Mixed Doubles , Nutcharut Wongharuthai , Mark Selby
Rebecca Kenna , align="center", 4–2

Amateur titles

* Australian U21 Championship – 2000, 2003 * Oceania Championship – 2000 * South Australian Open Championship – 2001 * Victorian Open Championship – 2001, 2002 * Australian Open Championship – 2002 * Fred Osborne Memorial – 2002, 2004 * Lance Pannell Classic – 2002, 2004 * Central Coast Leagues Club Classic – 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 * IBSF World Under-21 Championship – 2003 * West Coast International – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 * Kings Australia Cup – 2006, 2008 * City of Melbourne Championship – 2008, 2009

Maximum breaks

{, class="sortable wikitable" , - !width="20", !width="50", Year !width="250", Championship !width="200", Opponent !width="30", Ref. , - , 1. , 2010 China Open (snooker), 2010 , China Open (snooker), China Open , , , - , 2. , 2013 , Wuxi Classic, Wuxi Classic (qualifying) , , , - , 3. , 2015 UK Championship, 2015 , UK Championship , , , - , 4. , 2019 Welsh Open (snooker), 2019 , Welsh Open (snooker), Welsh Open , , , - , 5. , 2022 World Snooker Championship, 2022 , World Snooker Championship, World Championship , ,

References

External links

*
Neil Robertson
at ''worldsnooker.com'' *
Profile on Global Snooker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Neil 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Melbourne Australian snooker players World number one snooker players Masters (snooker) champions UK champions (snooker) Winners of the professional snooker world championship Competitors at the 2005 World Games People educated at Norwood Secondary College