Australian world No.1 Neil Robertson has produced a snooker masterclass to set up a blockbuster UK Masters semi-final showdown with Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Robertson, the top seed, was ruthless in defeating Englishman Ali Carter 6-1 in Thursday's quarter-final at London's Alexandra Palace.
The Australian regularly put his opponent under pressure with his break building, potting accuracy - finishing at 97 per cent - and superb safety play.
Robertson, chasing a second Masters title after his 2012 triumph, will face living legend O'Sullivan in the last four on Saturday.
"It was one of the best matches I have played in my career. I scored so heavily and my safety was great too, every department was spot on," Robertson said.
"It had to be, I knew the crowd would be with Ali, and rightly so, so I was prepared for that and overall it is hard to find fault with my performance. I only made one or two mistakes.
"Now I get to play Ronnie, the defending champion, in a semi-final in front of a full house at the Masters. What more do you want?"
The Australian has beaten the five-time Masters champion only once in their past five meetings but will enter the match buoyed by producing the performance of the tournament so far against cancer survivor Carter.
After opening with a clearance of 128 he barely looked back in a near-flawless display, with Carter effectively shut out of the contest.
Robertson's effort drew high praise from Carter.
"You can forget about Ronnie OSullivan or anyone like that, if Neil plays like that there is only one winner of this tournament for me," Carter said.
"No one has played as well as that against me, and I have played Ronnie twice in world finals."
Earlier on Thursday O'Sullivan claimed sole possession of the record for most professional career century breaks when he posted his 776th three-figure contribution.
The Englishman set a new mark in the opening frame of his eventual 6-1 Masters quarter-final win against Hong Kong's Marco Fu.
O'Sullivan equalled fellow multiple former world champion Stephen Hendry's record of 775 centuries with two hundreds during his tournament-opening win over Ricky Walden on Tuesday.
"I was a bit nervous, to be honest, because I knew everyone was thinking about it, so to get it out of the way was nice," O'Sullivan told the BBC.
In the remaining quarter-finals to be played on Friday, England's Joe Perry faces Northern Ireland's Mark Allen while Scot Stephen Maguire takes on Englishman Shaun Murphy.
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