John Virgo
1979 UK Championship winner on BBC Two

Shaun Murphy is not playing well, he has made mistake after mistake.

Ken Doherty
1997 world champion on BBC Two

This young man is enjoying it, the crowd are enjoying it with some of these shots and Shaun Murphy is not enjoying it, he is being made to suffer out there.

Shaun Murphy can't capitalise on that Wu error when he potted the cue ball.

With some stunning, exhibition-style pots to clear up the brown and blue, Wu takes his third frame in a row.

The reigning champion finds himself 3-0 down after an hour of play.

Shaun Murphy went in off when 11-13 behind and then has to watch Wu Yize spend more time at the table. But just when the Chinese youngster looked to be moving towards winning the frame and going 3-0 ahead, he pots a red but loses the cue ball as it dives into the right middle pocket.

Shaun Murphy is looking for some inspiration and a superb long red when 0-13 down after Wu had missed an earlier blue is his best pot of the afternoon so far.

Wu Yize is 22 years old and the world number 13.

He gained his first ranking tournament win in November when he won the International Championship in Nanjing in his home country of China, beating three world champions along the way - Judd Trump in the last 16, Zhao Xintong in the semi-finals and John Higgins in the final.

What a talent he is, and this is his Alexandra Palace debut - and he is certainly enjoying it so far.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

Shaun Murphy won't be panicking in his chair, but he will be a little bit uneasy.

Just the break off shot from Shaun Murphy in frame two as he left the table wide open, but Wu then punished him in impressive, ruthless fashion with the first century of the tournament - a stunning clearance of 137.

Image source, Getty Images

Ronnie O'Sullivan has won the tournament the most times and is also the youngest and the oldest Masters champion.

The Englishman won the Masters for the first time in 1995 aged 19 and his eighth in 2024 aged 48.

Stephen Hendry lifted the trophy six times while Steve Davis, Paul Hunter, Mark Selby and Cliff Thorburn have all won it three times.

Mark Williams, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy and Alex Higgins have all won the title twice.

The tournament trophy was renamed the Paul Hunter Trophy in 2017 as a tribute to the three-time Masters champion, who died aged 27 in 2006.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

A very strange start from Shaun Murphy, he is experienced enough.

A poor break off from Murphy in frame two is not the ideal start and he's left a very inviting table for Wu.

It's the first to six so need to panic for Shaun Murphy, but he will be unhappy with the first frame of his title defence.

Two misses, on two separate reds, prove costly with Wu taking the lead.

Shaun Murphy has had a couple of chances in this opening frame, but not been able to take them with some uncharacteristic errors and Wu looks set to punish him and take the opening frame.

Image source, Getty Images

Defending champion Shaun Murphy comes into the Masters in pretty good form having reached the semi-finals of the first Triple Crown event of the season - the UK Championship - where he was beaten by eventual winner Mark Selby.

'The Magician' won the British Open earlier this term, reached the final of the Xi'an Grand Prix, defeating Wu Yize en route in a decider, and has also made a couple of quarter-finals.

China's Wu played pretty well in his one and only meeting so far against Murphy and won his first ranking title earlier in the campaign at the International Championship.

However, while he has the game to trouble anyone, aside from that he has struggled to go deep into tournaments during 2025-26.

BBC Two

BBC Sport has comprehensive live coverage of every shot across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

You can also watch the live streams and follow text updates on the BBC Sport website and app.

To watch this match simply click the play button near the top of this page or grab your TV remote and switch on BBC Two.

The first match sees the reigning champion Shaun Murphy take on China's Wu Yize, and Wu is the first to get a look at the table as he makes a break of 41, before missing a tough cut on the black.

Hello and welcome to the 2026 Masters. We have 16 of the best players in the world and only one can be champion.