Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan whitewashed Essex rival Brian Morgan 5-0 to reach the Irish Masters quarter final at Citywest in Dublin today.
'The Rocket' now believes he is finding the consistency that will produce the rewards so many believe his skill and talent deserves.
"You have to take your hat off to players like [Stephen] Hendry, [Mark] Williams and [John] Higgins," said O'Sullivan after setting up a last-eight meeting on Friday with Peter Ebdon.
"Even when they are not playing well they are picking up titles. Look at Hendry, he's been doing it all his life. And I believe I'm starting to win matches when I'm playing badly.
"I think I've been very consistent this season," added O'Sullivan, a winner of the Welsh Open and runner-up at the Wembley Masters and British Open. "And if you keep knocking on the door enough, one day it will open. The sign of a great player is when you look at their record at the end of their career."
Certainly, world number three O'Sullivan was not at his best against world number 45 Morgan but he didn't need to be. His top break was 66 in frame two and he also added two more half-centuries and a closing-frame break of 49.
Former world champion Ebdon has scored far heavier in his opening two contests. But that is not enough to frighten the title-holder.
"Peter may be playing well against other people but he's got to do it with me. He is a fantastic player and a tough opponent to beat. But now he's got to come to my world and do it against me."
O'Sullivan was less than focused on his snooker after his first-round success but today he was in relaxed, upbeat mood and sounding determined to keep hold of his trophy come Sunday night.
For Morgan, it was a premature end to his season as he has not qualified for the final two ranking events, including the Embassy World Championship.
Morgan had chances in every frame but was unable to take any of them and O'Sullivan had a routine passage into the quarter-finals.