Neil Robertson has praised Ronnie O’Sullivan for how he reacted to a painful defeat in the Saudi Arabia Masters final, staying behind to sign autographs and offering the champion plenty of advice.
Robertson won the epic final in Jeddah 10-9, claiming the £500,000 top prize after a brilliant contest with the Rocket.
O’Sullivan hit remarkable heights in the semi-final when he made two 147s in a win over Chris Wakelin and although he could not replicate that level of performance, he still very nearly won the title.
After trailing 7-2 and looking down and out, the seven-time world champion scrapped all the way back to force a decider before being pipped at the post.
Even after all the 49-year-old has won a deciding frame defeat would have stung and, while O’Sullivan is a Riyadh Season sponsored player so unlikely to kick up a fuss, Robertson was impressed with how he took the loss in Saudi Arabia.
‘He was absolutely amazing,’ said the Australian. ‘To lose a final like that, it was played in great spirits, it was so competitive, it was so enjoyable to play in when he was fighting and so desperate to win.
‘It was emotionally really intense, then after the match we both did signings, signed hundreds of autographs for people in a meet and greet thing.
‘He was signing them all and we were having a chat and he was talking to me about my schedule. “Make sure you look after yourself” and “make sure you can be ready to compete again, don’t force yourself to play.”
‘He’s always been great with me. He calls me up randomly quite frequently on the phone, just chatting about things. He just wants to see me do well.
‘I’ve got a huge amount of respect for him. He’s a good guy. Not many people see that side.
‘You lose a final like that and still agree to do the meet and greet. So many people would just shoot off and he’s signing hundreds of signatures. It’s amazing really and I think it’s important people know that.’
O’Sullivan had been magnanimous after losing, saying on TNT Sports: ‘Neil played the better snooker, probably played the best snooker all week. I came here this week and I would have been happy to win a couple of matches so to get to the final I’m very happy, you can’t be too greedy. I was pleased with my performances, disappointed I didn’t win, but Neil deserved his victory.’
Robertson said of the experience immediately after his victory: ‘I can’t possibly explain in words what it means. To play Ronnie in a final of this magnitude, growing up as a kid in Australia there’s no way in the world I could have dreamt of something like that.’
The Rocket has not played since that defeat in the Jeddah final, while Robertson also heeded his advice on being aware of a busy schedule.
The Thunder from Down Under opted out of playing at the Wuhan Open straight after Saudi Arabia, instead heading home to Australia.
He has now returned to start the defence of his English Open title on Tuesday in Brentwood, where he takes on Sunny Akani in his opening contest.
‘I was not in a place mentally to be able to compete in Wuhan,’ he said. ‘I could have gone there, maybe could have got through a few rounds, but eventually I would have hit a mental brick wall.
‘I’ve been there so many times before where I’ve played in events and we’ve got this really quick turnaround. I was in Shanghai for the Shanghai Masters, then I was in Hong Kong for a week, then flew to Saudi.
‘I hadn’t been back in the UK for pushing a month, living in a hotel. You need that mental reset.’