Snooker: Murphy shows the strain on a day to forget

Shaun Murphy has had better days, personally and professionally, than yesterday, when he awoke to find himself featured in a tabloid kiss and tell, and went to bed having effectively waved goodbye to his chances in the World Championship final here against John Higgins.

In the early stages of their best-of-35 frame contest, which resumes this afternoon, it seemed that ructions in Murphy's private life had not unduly upset his focus. Higgins went 3-0 up but Murphy won four on the trot on the way to 4-4 at the end of the afternoon.

But by close of play, Higgins, 33, the champion of 1998 and 2007, had calmly exploited chinks in his opponent's armour to take an 11-5 overnight lead. Never in Crucible history has a first-day leader with such an advantage let it slip.

Barring a freakish choke or comeback, Higgins will tonight join an illustrious trio in having won three or more times here: Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The glimmer of hope for Murphy lies in the final two years ago, when Higgins led Mark Selby 12-4 overnight and Selby clawed back to just 13-14 behind. But he still lost 18-13.

Higgins won the last six frames last night, turning style into majesty in the last two especially, with consecutive breaks of 128. Those were his 10th and 11th tons of this tournament, and his 95th and 96th here in his career. They took the tournament's century tally in 2009 to a staggering 83. Never before have there been more than 68.

It could yet transpire, if and when he chooses to talk about it, that putting the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll back into snooker was an accomplishment too far for Murphy, an unlikely candidate for that task.

A devout Christian, he prays before every match, and relaxes by playing golf or the piano. But before a ball was potted here yesterday, the 26-year-old had provided ample reasons for a reappraisal of his status from cherub to cheeky monkey.

Exhibit A is admittedly salacious. It was a kiss 'n' tell in one of yesterday's tabloids, featuring "brunette Abigayle, 25". She first met Murphy at a religious youth group in Irthlingborough, Northants, when they were teenagers. They became reacquainted recently via Facebook, but it does not appear they wasted too much time discussing scripture. Or safety play. Murphy's agent, Brandon Parker, has confirmed a liaison, albeit with a Clinton-esque qualification about sharing a bed but not "relations".

This latest revelation comes as Murphy's estranged wife, Clare, is seeking a divorce on the grounds on his alleged infidelity. Theirs was a modern marriage. They met on the internet. They grew apart. He found solace via social networking. They are both seeking the delete button.

As for drugs, Murphy recently said he believed his drink had been spiked at a party last year. With a sedative – he was fine.

The salient point in all of this is that a less focused man than Murphy might have risen yesterday morning, taken one look at the papers and gone back to bed with the duvet over his head. Not Murphy.

This is a person, after all, who has been utterly driven since childhood. Someone who told the BBC, aged 13, that he refused to play against his friends because he was too good. "I say [to them] there's no point, it's a waste of time," explained the 13-year-old Shaun.

"What do your friends think about your snooker?" he was asked at the time. "The few that I have are quite okay about it," he replied. "But when they phone up and I say I'm going out they get distressed because they haven't got many [friends] either."

If that sounds sad on paper from a kid who looked like a chubby Aled Jones, he did not sound sad. He sounded cocksure. Fame, riches and success have not dented his self-assurance, a trait that today faces its toughest test yet.