Stephen Hendry claims Ali Carter must 'be careful' not to allow his feud with Ronnie O'Sullivan to have a negative impact on his snooker.
Carter and O'Sullivan have come to blows since the latter won the Masters final at Alexandra Palace on Sunday.
The Rocket won his record-extending eighth Masters title, coming back from 6-3 down to win 10-7.
The defeat sparked a furious reaction from Carter, who criticised 'morons' in the crowd who were supporting his opponent, as well as calling out O'Sullivan for 'snotting all over the floor'.
Ali Carter has been warned to not let the Ronnie O'Sullivan feud affect him
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O'Sullivan reacted with a seething rant of his own, where he claimed Carter 'needs to sort his f****** life out' and is a 'nightmare' to play against.
Carter responded ahead of his World Grand Prix opener on Tuesday by saying he felt sorry for O'Sullivan because he doesn't think 'he's that well mentally'.
Snooker chiefs are investigating the feud and The Sun claims fines could be handed out as punishment.
Seven-time world champion Hendry thinks the bust-up will be water off a duck's back for O'Sullivan.
But he has warned Carter to not let it affect his performances.
Hendry told the World Snooker Tour podcast: "There is bad blood there, no doubt about it and it goes back a long way. They've known each for a long time.
"How is it going to affect them for the rest of the season as far as the snooker is concerned?
"I don't think it will affect Ronnie at all. These kind of things just brush off Ronnie, but Carter has to be careful it doesn't have an impact.
"Especially playing straight away this week, so that it doesn't affect his game."
Hendry believes Carter's reaction on Sunday stemmed from the anger he felt of losing.
He added: "People don't realise winning these big events does take a lot out of you.
"Both players would have been mentally exhausted after that week.
"Sometimes you get asked questions in a press conference and you are still raging after losing, I've done it myself, and you react differently than you would have if you waited half an hour to do the press conference.
"Things were still raw for both players, but they've got to start again this week.
"The next time they play each other it's going to be spicy."
But Hendry also felt O'Sullivan was out of line with his immediate reaction to beating Carter.
He said: "I saw his interview after the final ball was potted, and it wasn't the best interview towards Ali Carter. Let's put it that way.
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"And the way he was playing all week. It is bordering on taking the mickey out of your opponent, the balls he was going for.
"It is almost like: 'I'm just going to do what I want, and if you can't handle it then fair enough, I'm just going to play this game'.
"Carter stood up to him in the afternoon, and Ronnie had to change his game because that wasn't going to work to keep playing like that."
Hendry was impressed with Carter's performance at Ally Pally but admitted he cannot afford to slip up at all against the world No 1.
He said: "At 7-7, Ali Carter potted a red, and didn't get on the pink to the middle. If he had got on that pink, he'd have gone 8-7 up.
Ali Carter missed a chance to win his maiden Masters title
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"Okay, Ronnie went 8-7 up, and Ali kind of weakened then. He fell away completely. It might have been different if Ali had gone 8-7 up.
"It's the best I've seen him play, and he is a contender at the World Championship, but the thing about playing Ronnie, especially in the long matches, is that you've got to be on it the whole time.
"Ronnie wears you down. It is really difficult to stay with him."
