Higgins determined to conquer his Wembley nerves tonight as Masters champion Selby crashes out in first round defeat

The 35-year-old Scot, who has bounced back from a six-month suspension for not reporting a match-fixing approach to be crowned UK Champion last month and reclaim his No 1 status, has lost nine times in the first round at the Masters – including three of the last four years.

Hardly happy memories, but after a nightmare 2010 and his match-fixing probe, Higgins is just happy to be back concentrating on his game as he heads to London looking to add to his two Masters titles back in 1999 and 2006.

"I've always been overawed by the atmosphere at Wembley," said Higgins. "It's such a big arena and if you are playing badly it can be exaggerated. Even the two times I have won it, I have not played to a great standard – except the 2006 final when I beat Ronnie O'Sullivan.

"I can't say I've got a terrible record because I've won it twice, but I've bombed out so many times in the first round. It's such a fabulous tournament and I would love to be able to play better there, but I've not often produced my best.

"I'm really looking forward to it this time because I'm high on confidence at the moment. I only played for a couple of days over Christmas, but I'm playing matches at the Championship league this week to get myself sharp."

Higgins' opening match in the Ladbrokes Mobile Masters – which features the top 16 players in the world, competing for a 500,000 prize fund – will see him take on fellow Scot Graeme Dott tonightHiggin.

"It will be a very tough match because Graeme's such a tenacious opponent," added Higgins, who beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the UK Championship last month. "I'll just try to play well and give myself a chance."

One player who stood in Higgins's path for Masters glory was reigning champion Mark Selby, pictured right.

The Leicester potter had been looking to emulate Paul Hunter in winning the Masters three times in four years.

Leeds player Hunter, who died of cancer in 2006, dominated the event at the start of the last decade, crowned champion in 2001, 2002 and 2004.

Selby also had an amazing record in the Masters, winning it on his debut in 2008 and again last year, and reaching the final in 2009.

But yesterday he crashed out in the first round to Mark King at Wembley.

Selby raced into a 2-0 lead against King before the left-hander hit back with a break of 139 on his way to a shock 6-4 victory.

And King revealed it was what he perceived as a somewhat premature celebration from Selby which inspired his performance.

"Mark is a fantastic player and this is like his back yard, but he won the second frame and put his cue up and it gave me the hump a bit," King said.

"He was pleased to win it on the black but I thought, 'Hang on, you're only 2-0 up'."

King duly reeled off the next four frames in a row, only for Selby to battle back to level at 4-4 aided by a break of 106.

But world No 16 King refused to lie down and won the next two frames to demonstrate the hard work he has been putting in over the winter.

"I am the worst break-builder there is in the top 16," King added.

"I don't make tons, I get in and make 30 or 20, but ever since the UK Championship I have been really working on it and I went to China with Stephen Hendry and got a little bit of advice from him," he added.

The result was a bitter blow for Selby, who had previously lost just one match at Wembley in three years, the 2009 final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, a result he avenged in the title match 12 months ago.

First round draw

Today: (1.30pm) Mark Williams (Wal) v Ding Junhui (Chn); (7pm) John Higgins (Sco) v Graeme Dott (Sco).

Tomorrow: (1.30pm) Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) v Mark Allen (NI); (7pm): Stephen Maguire (Sco) v Marco Fu (HK).

Wednesday: (1.30pm) Neil Robertson (Aus) v Stephen Hendry (Sco); (7pm): Shaun Murphy (Eng) v Jamie Cope (Eng).