ALI Carter admitted he was forced out of his comfort zone by Mark Selby after his World Snooker Championship campaign ended in frustrating fashion at the Crucible.
Selby, sometimes known as 'the Torturer' for his methodical style of play, left Carter with little opportunity to build frame-winning breaks in their last 16 clash in Sheffield.
Despite winning the opener with a stunning century Carter, twice a finalist at the Crucible, lagged behind early on as Selby ground out a 13-9 victory on Friday evening.
And 34-year-old Carter believes he was unlucky to catch Selby at his best after the three-time Masters champion and world No.3 curbed his natural attacking instincts.
"That last session was probably the worst and my story of the match really," he said. "He has played very well there and I don't think he's played as well as that for many months.
"It was tough out there, he played some great safety and is so hard to beat – he doesn't give you anything.
"His safety was absolutely granite, he's a great player and a great winner but very difficult to play against because he freezes you out a lot.
"You feel like you're the one trying to make something happen and most of the time that goes wrong, but that's the way I like to play.
"He plays a lot of containing safety shots where you feel like you'd be there all day. You've got to try and win and that's what he does, it works well for him.
"To go 12-7 instead of 11-8 is what really took the wind out of my sails, I knew that probably then was the match lost for me."
Since appearing at the Crucible last year, Carter has received the all-clear to battle back into the world's top ten after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Ranked at No.11 in the world, Carter has vowed to return to the Crucible stronger in 2015 – but did concede an early with Selby was never an ideal scenario.
"It was just a bitty game, a lot of scrappy frames so it's disappointing – but I'll be back next year," he added. "You come here to try and win it, I've got good memories here and a good record here.
"To play Mark Selby in the second round is maybe a bit unlucky really but that's the way the rankings are. I could have done with meeting him in the semis or final."
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