Michael van Gerwen produced a superb victory over 13 times World Champion Phil Taylor and was the only Dutchman with a success on the opening day. It was a convincing looking victory by 3 sets to 0 but all three sets went to a deciding leg which van Gerwen took with 14, 12 and 12 dart legs respectively. Van Gerwen took out 170 to clinch the second set and also included a 10 dart leg in the third set hitting 180, 133, 180 and double 4 to put himself within one leg of the match. He finished the match with a 164 checkout for the 3–0 win.