Ronnie O'Sullivan has elaborated on his apology to Barry Hawkins after his Masters win on Thursday.
The Rocket was too strong for his opponent, winning 6-3 to book his place in the semi-finals of the competition.
Immediately after the match, O'Sullivan revealed he'd apologised to Hawkins for 'dragging him down'.
"I just feel sorry for Barry," he said.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has clarified his apology to Barry Hawkins after his snooker win at the Masters
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"He was playing good until he started playing me and I just dragged him down to probably the most awful standard of snooker.
"So I'm really sorry about that today but I'm just lucky to get through really, that's all I can say."
And O'Sullivan, speaking to the BBC, has now shed light on why he apologised.
"I felt bad for him because if I'd played alright and he'd played alright it would have been a good game," he told the broadcaster.
"But I think I just have this ability with certain players, most players, if I play bad they play even worse.
"Not everybody, some of the other guys will punish me.
"But that's just how it is. It's been like that all my life, really."
When asked if he feels pressure, he continued: "I don't feel any pressure at all, to be honest.
"That's probably the reason why you need to feel a few nerves, I think it's important to feel nerves before you play."
O'Sullivan is now set to play Shaun Murphy in the last four, with that fixture due to take place on Saturday.
Three-time champion Steve Davis, meanwhile, has admitted O'Sullivan's apology was a 'lovely gesture'.
But he feels he should focus more on the results of matches, rather than entertaining the crowd and putting on a show.
"It always feels like Ronnie wants to entertain, but I don't think that's really the most important thing," he said.
"He'll probably feel he's let people down.
"Apologising, you can't really apologise for a performance like that.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan said he felt no nerves during his Masters win over Barry Hawkins (pictured)
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"You've just got to say 'thanks very much, I've got over the line'.
"And I think the crowd appreciated that.
"The apology to the crowd was a lovely gesture as much as he does feel the responsibility as maybe the best player we've ever seen to entertain as well.
"That's hard, the weight on his shoulders."
Davis added: "It does seem, occasionally, Ronnie gets into the zone where he doesn't want to be bogged down with tactical play, so he prefers to be much more aggressive.
Ronnie O'Sullivan will face Shaun Murphy in the semi-finals of the Masters
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"In the end he did a good job.
"It is all about the win. It depends how you go about trying to rectify faults.
"If you blame your technique, if you're the type of player that would blame your technique, you'd go to the practice tables and work on technique.
"But in the end he finished the job - and that's all that matters.
"It's all about how you finish off and he finished off in style. Fantastic last red, you can watch that all day long."
