By Phil Harlow BBC Sport at The Crucible

Davis wasted several chances before seeing off Greene's brave challenge

Davis, trailing 5-4 overnight, displayed all his famous tenacity to win four of the first five frames.

Greene responded with breaks of 52 and 60 to level at 8-8, and, as the tension mounted, the players swapped frames to force the decider.

Both players had numerous chances, but a fluked yellow finally gave Davis the chance to wrap up the game.

Veteran cueman Davis credited a more instinctive approach for his stunning victory.

"There's no way I want to get bogged down in snooker where you take ages over every shot," he said.

"I've realised that if I get on with it I don't make any more mistakes but I give myself a chance to play with a bit of fluency.

"The best way is to play fluently and let any natural ability I've got take over my brain."

S DAVIS (Eng) 10-9 G GREENE (NI)

63-32 41-78 (64) 9-69 78-23 (71) 0-117 (74) 73-20 1-77 3-76 (54) 72-49 75-30 74-67 (respotted black) 48-65 71-40 (62) 81-49 9-85 (52) 5-89 (60) 68-5 28-66 (62) 61-34