Ronnie O'Sullivan is hoping a snooker prodigy emerges in a similar way to how Carlos Alcaraz has in the world of tennis. Alcaraz has shot onto the scene over the past year and announced himself as the world's No. 1 tennis player.
The young Spaniard is bidding to take over from the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic who have dominated the sport for so long. And snooker world No. 1 O'Sullivan is hoping something similar can happen in his sport.
The Rocket has established himself as the greatest player to ever pick up a snooker cue, following a quite remarkable career on the table.
O'Sullivan is still going strong, sitting in the world No. 1 spot and undoubtedly the sport's main attraction. The 45-year-old though seems ready to hand over his dominance over to snooker's next wave of talent.
Comparing his sport to the rise of Alcaraz, he told Eurosport : "You look at tennis, [Novak] Djokovic, [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer and new players come along, and they didn't tear up the game like them guys did when they first came along.
“But I think once Djokovic goes, you'll see, you'll forget how good they were and you kind of go ‘who's the best now?’ So there's the young Spanish kid Alcaraz. Seems like he's got the pedigree, you know?
“So it's just about timing. Sometimes, you know, timing has a lot to do with it.” Asked if he felt there could be a player that could be compared to him in the near future, he went on: "Don't know, probably.
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"That'd be great to see. It would be great to see someone come along. I'd like to see it. I'd like to be around to witness someone coming in and winning the big events.” O'Sullivan is currently in action at The Masters, where he meets Mark Williams in the quarter-finals on Thursday after seeing off Luca Brecel in his tournament opener.
The Masters is an event The Rocket enjoys plenty of support in, especially being a local lad. "Obviously I'm a local guy. I think that might have something to do with it," he commented. "Obviously over the years, [I have had] a lot of good tournaments in the Masters. 13 finals, seven wins.
"So I think yeah, you kind of end up over the years getting that support. And I think they see that I'm still trying my hardest at my age. And I think they just, they like it, you know, so it's nice to put on a decent performance”.
