Stephen Hendry threatened drastic action after what John Higgins did at the Masters - The Mirror

Six-time Masters champion Stephen Hendry couldn't believe what he saw from John Higgins in the first round at Alexandra Palace

Stephen Hendry was stunned by a John Higgins blunder at the Masters before his former rival powered through to the quarter-finals. The four-time world champion recovered from a shaky start, which saw him drop the opening frame, to defeat Barry Hawkins 6-2 at Alexandra Palace.

A messy first frame saw Higgins struggle to escape a snooker on three occasions. After the third attempt, BBC commentator John Parrott said: "I don't know what's happening here. For him to miss that snooker three times..."

Higgins eventually connected with the final red on his fourth try, but left his opponent with a straightforward pot, allowing the Hawk to claim the frame and take a 1-0 lead.

In the BBC studio, Hendry was also astonished by what he'd seen. The seven-time world champion said: "I just can't explain it. When he's missed it twice, I said in here, 'If he misses again, I'll eat my shoe.' I cannot believe John Higgins has missed that snooker three times, it's incredible."

On a poor positional shot in the same frame, Hendry continued: "That's an elementary shot, an unforced error, and those are the things that are going to decide the match. Those little shots, the bad positional shot on the black, those are little things that have crept into John's game.

"Even though he won two tournaments [last season], there's still those little unforced errors that you just don't expect, and I think they'll cost him tonight."

However, Hendry was left to eat his words - though not his shoe - as Higgins triumphed 6-2, matching the scoreline of every match in the tournament thus far. The Wizard of Wishaw produced six breaks exceeding 50 and sank nearly every long pot he attempted.

"I'm delighted, the way I hit the ball tonight," said Higgins, who claimed victory at the World Open and Tour Championship towards the end of last season.

"I was surprised at how well I played because I didn't practice that much over Christmas. Then I was out in China and after that I was stuck for a few days in Amsterdam waiting for a flight home.

"So it wasn't the best preparation, but I wanted to enjoy it tonight and that's half the battle. I have got to the stage in my life where I am just smiling more at events and staying relaxed. Before, I was uptight, trying so hard to get ready for matches, but it can't work like that any more."

Higgins will meet world champion Zhao Xintong in the quarter-finals. He said: "I'll really look forward to playing Zhao. You go with him because he plays at a really good pace and he's a great champion.

"It will take a bit of time for him to settle into consistently being one of the best players. He'll be looking at guys like Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson and try to emulate them, but he's well capable of doing that."

The remaining first round matches take place on Wednesday, with world number one Judd Trump facing Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson taking on Chris Wakelin, who stepped in at short notice for Ronnie O'Sullivan after the Rocket withdrew on the eve of the tournament, citing "medical reasons."