“I felt bad for Barry – I just dragged him down to my level. It’s a funny old game.

“I didn’t feel any pressure at all to be honest. Maybe that’s why I played like I did. I think you need that pressure sometimes to get you motivated.”

O’Sullivan won the opening frame with an 88 break, but Hawkins, twice a beaten Masters finalist, replied with runs of 74, 56 and 47 to lead 3-2 shortly after the interval.

However, the left-hander missed a string of good chances to extend his lead further and O’Sullivan, who has not won the title for seven years, pounced in typical predatory fashion to progress.

Fine breaks of 77 and 60 allowed him to close out the match in style as he moved within two wins of the £250,000 first prize.

“That’s the most awful standard of snooker,” added O’Sullivan. “I just said to Barry at the end: ‘Sorry mate.’

“I’ve just got this ability with certain players where if I play bad, then they play even worse.

“Some of the other guys will punish me, but I’ve just had it all through my life.”

Hawkins was hammered 10-1 by O’Sullivan when the pair met in the 2017 Masters final and he had not beat him since the 2016 World Championship in Sheffield.

His record of just three wins from 20 meetings between the pair didn’t bode well – and so it proved as O’Sullivan, by no means at his best, registered yet another victory.

“I let him [Ronnie] off the hook – I had enough chances,” said Hawkins.

“For some reason your mind wanders when you play Ronnie. I’ve got no complaints.”