Ronnie O’Sullivan compares himself to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in retirement verdict

Snooker: Hendry targets centuries milestone after defeat

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Ronnie O’Sullivan is generally regarded as one of the best snooker players to ever grace the game, alongside many who have also enjoyed great success throughout the era he has dominated. And the Birmingham-born star has suggested that once he, John Higgins and Mark Williams leave the sport, they will be held in the same esteem as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in tennis.

O’Sullivan started out in professional snooker at just 17, the same year that John Higgins and Mark Williams started their respective careers.

Dubbed ‘the Class of 92’, the trio have won a combined 12 UK Championships and 13 World Championships to cement themselves in snooker history.

With the trio all approaching their fifties, there may not be a lot of time left for them to exude their brilliance upon the game they have dominated for almost three decades.

And O’Sullivan, who is also a regular pundit for Eurosport, has compared not only himself to Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, but his competitors too.

“In tennis you look at Federer, Nadal and Djokovic who are such greats and have dominated the sport for so long – and in the recent ATP Finals you didn’t have two of them,” O’Sullivan said.

“They are really hard to replace, you almost can’t replace Federer and Nadal, they are one-offs for their sport for what they have achieved.

“For someone to match that they have got to be not only in that sport for 20 years, but also winning for those 20 years.

“People follow those players not just for the odd match but for their whole career, you’re on a journey with them and that comes over time.

“People love the longevity, and how long you’ve been at it. They come up to you and say ‘When I was a student at university I started following you then’.

“So it is a new era for tennis, will there ever be again a time when two or three players break away and are that much better and do it in that style?

“So absolutely I can see why people have occasionally made that comparison to snooker and myself, John Higgins and Mark Williams.”

O’Sullivan took on fellow player Robbie Williams today in a bid to win his eighth UK Championship.

Having last won the illustrious competition in 2018 with a 10-6 win over Mark Allen, O’Sullivan is aiming to further his record seven wins of the tournament as a whole.

And in the game against Williams, he will embark on his 26th attempt to win the tournament.

His opponent Williams has never been higher than 47th in the world rankings, and his highest finish in the UK Championship is the third round.

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