That's not bad from Ali Carter, who has worked up a 44 point lead.

He opts to leave a tricky red down the bottom cushion well alone and play safe. He's thrown the pressure back over to Stuart Bingham.

Can Ali Carter nick another frame? Looks like he's going to have to disturb five reds on the bottom rail to give himself a chance.

But to kick-off he's going to try and clear away all the open reds.

A tough ask in the present climate.

That's a snorter from Stuart Bingham, a long red that rockets into the bottom bin.

But he's then forced to snick the white in behind the green with no obvious way back down the table into the colours.

He gets another chance after a mistake from Ali Carter but then misses a presentable blue.

It's been an error-strewn start from both players.

Now then a mistake from Staurt Bingham let's Ali Carter in. And he's got the sort of opening red you dream of.

Just the nine points though before a red into the middle goes awry. Is there a roll on the table?

We've been going about 10 minutes in this frame and we've got one ball down.

Hope it's not a sign of things to come...I mean I enjoy a bit of safety and tactical play as much as the next person but...

You jammy so and so. Stuart Bingham plays a safety down the right side of the pack and the white literally crawls up and nestles behind the green on its way back to baulk.

A simple enough escape ordinarily but then this is the Masters final.

Nope Ali Carter is fine, so this is shaping up into a good old tactical battle.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

They have beaten some great players to get here and have both played in World Championship finals.

They are good players and whoever wins would fully deserve to win this tournament.

Not a great break off shot from Stuart Bingham but then Ali Carter refuses the pot.

Or does he? No he just played it dead weight and was miles off. It's tense, it's tight but neither player has hit the heights yet.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

That was a massive first frame for Ali Carter to close the gap because he was unlucky to be two behind after the first session.

You can see it's a hugely competitive match between two players who have known each other for along time. There will be no quarter given.

Ah that's better from Ali Carter who screws back the length of the table off the pink. You can't teach that.

He's in prime position. The deficit is going to be one frame.

It's catching. Stuart Bingham kicks off a spate of loose shots. These two look like they have the world resting on their shoulders.

Ali Carter finally snaps out of it but then makes just six.

It's just like a game with my mates at the moment.

Ali Carter is back on the baize and he makes 16 before running out of position after absolutely blasting the pink into the top right corner and sending the white off round the table.

He could just do with being a touch more clinical and maybe taking a breath.

Just watch this. Snooker well boring eh.

A promising enough break from Ali Carter comes to an abrupt end on 29 as he just goes a touch heavy with a pot into the middle.

He plays his next shot as a shot to nothing but it's a half-hearted sort of attempt at a red into the bottom right corner, which means we've got another bout of safety incoming.

Ali Carter looks fully focussed on the task in hand knocking in a superb long red after a few minutes of exchanging safety shots.

This will be an early test of how well he is cueing. Does his revival start here?

Ken Doherty
1997 world champion on BBC Two

Both players have been tremendous this week. It was a very interesting afternoon - Ali Carter could have been 5-3 up but now he needs a fast start to this session.

Ali Carter is a man in black tonight. Black shirt, black bow tie and black waistcoat and slacks.

A man on a mission.

Here we go again in this first to 10 encounter.

Just a reminder of how evenly these two players are matched.

Image source, BBC Sport

"What a setting, what an occasion, what an atmosphere," says master of ceremonies Rob Walker.

The players are almost ready to come out. Get ready for lift-off.

Great montage on at the minute telling the story of this contest so far. Admit it, watching some of those shots makes you want to grab your chalk, put your cue in its case and head down to your local snooker club.

Image source, Getty Images