Ronnie O’Sullivan’s rivals are no longer scared of him following his lengthy run without a tournament victory, according to former world champion Judd Trump.
O’Sullivan, who won his sixth world title in August 2020, has lost all five finals he has competed in since.
And Trump, who has been the most consistent player on the tour over the past 12 months, feels O’Sullivan’s drop-off may be the result of a lack of confidence.
Speaking to Metro, he said: “I just think he’s lost a little bit of the belief. When you don’t win, you don’t have the same belief, people aren’t scared to beat you.
“He’s still getting to finals, he’s always going to breeze through the first few games because he’s so good. But when he comes up against a top-16 player, there’s just not that gulf in class anymore, I don’t think.
“No one is that scared to play him, on their day anyone’s game is good enough to beat him and that’s what’s happened to him over the last year.”
Despite Trump’s claims, O’Sullivan seemed to laugh off the idea that a lack of belief is to blame for his recent dip in form.
Chuckling to himself, he responded: “Who, me? Yeah maybe, maybe I’m lacking belief. Yeah, I dunno, maybe he’s right [Trump]. Who knows? Who knows?”
O’Sullivan is widely regarded as one of the greatest snooker players of all time. His sixth world title in 2020 took him just one behind the record of seven set by Stephen Hendry.
