at the 2001 masters, hunter beat matthew stevens 6–5 in the first round, peter ebdon 6–3 in the quarter-finals and stephen hendry 6–4 in the semi-finals. in the final hunter met fergal o'brien. he was behind 3–7, but won seven out of the next nine frames to win 10–9. after winning , hunter commented that he and his girlfriend had sex between sessions when losing 2-6 and had caused him to play better.