2026 German Masters Final Preview: Trump faces Murphy in Tempodrom title decider

Both players came through their semi-final assignments on Saturday in the capital, as the venue was transformed into its fabled one-table set-up in front of a packed and enthusiastic crowd.

Murphy was irresistible during his opening mini-session against Neil Robertson, fashioning breaks of 122, 102 and 106 in establishing a 3-1 lead. On resumption, he won the next three frames - aided by efforts of 51 and 66 - for a 6-1 victory.

In a clash of two of the most successful players in German Masters history, three-time champion Trump registered runs of 52, 67 and 87 en route to building a 4-0 advantage over Ali Carter.

After the mid-session interval, two-time title winner Carter got on the board, depositing frames five and six with breaks of 58 and 64, but Trump stopped his opponent's rally, crafting a 56 in frame seven before getting the job done in the next for a 6-2 win.

How the players reached the final

'The Magician' has really powered his way into the title decider, getting over the disappointment of losing in the opening round whilst defending the Masters crown a few weeks ago at the Alexandra Palace.

The 43-year-old has dropped just five frames in as many matches this tournament, eliminating Zak Surety (5-2) and Julien Leclercq (5-1) before a 5-0 whitewash over Mark Allen in the last 16, and 5-1 victory against reigning champion and new Masters champion Kyren Wilson in the last eight.

One of this season's star performers, Murphy is into his third final of the 2025/26 term: he won the British Open and was runner-up in the Xi'an Grand Prix.

Currently tenth on the all-time list for most ranking event titles, victory over Trump would put Murphy on 14 accolades, one behind ninth-placed Ding Junhui.

The German Masters is one of the few titles that Murphy doesn't have on his career CV, although he did reach the final in 2015 when he was denied by Mark Selby.

World number one Trump navigated his first two matches this week with whitewash wins before seeing off fellow top 16 exponents Si Jiahui 5-2 in the last 16 and Xiao Guodong 5-3 in the quarter-finals.

'The Ace in the Pack' is through to his fourth final since the middle of October, although he is still looking to end a wait for a top tier title; his last triumph came in December 2024 at the UK Championship.

Appearing in his fifth German Masters final, Trump is going for a record-extending fourth title.

This will be the 36-year-old's 52nd outing in a ranking event final overall, and should he succeed on Sunday, it would be crown number 31, putting him five behind second-placed Stephen Hendry (36) and ten behind Ronnie O'Sullivan who is top of the tree with 41.

Trump v Murphy: Head-to-head numbers

In terms of their career head-to-head record, Trump holds a strong advantage over his opponent, although Murphy did come out on top in their most recent meeting in the last 16 of this season’s British Open (4-3).

This will be their fourth encounter in a ranking event final. Murphy won the first at the 2017 Gibraltar Open (4-2), but Trump has taken the last two, and quite convincingly: 2019 International Championship (10-3), 2024 Shanghai Masters (11-5).

They have played each other at the Tempodrom once before; Trump defeated Murphy 5-2 in the last 16 of the 2014 edition.

Sunday’s two-session final is the best of 19 frames, with start times of 13:00GMT and 19:00GMT.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 German Masters, visit here.