John Higgins defeated Ken Doherty 10–8 in the final to win his first Masters title. He had also won the World title (where he also defeated Doherty) and UK title in 1998, meaning that he held all three Triple Crown titles simultaneously. Before his semi-final match Higgins had said, referring to the possibility of holding all three titles, "That triple crown would be a dream but it's going to be tough." After his win, the term "Triple Crown" was used in a number of newspapers to describe Higgins' feat.