Ronnie O'Sullivan has told his supporters that he could perform worse on Saturday after making it through to the semi-final of the Masters.
The Rocket has reached the last four for a 15th time but was far from his best in his quarter-final.
O'Sullivan beat Barry Hawkins 6-3 at Alexandra Palace on Thursday afternoon.
He will face either Shaun Murphy or Jack Lisowski in Saturday's semi, with the pair battling it out on Thursday evening.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has warned fans he could be worse on Saturday
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Hawkins led O'Sullivan 3-2 at one point but the 48-year-old came back to win four successive frames and claim victory.
He admitted in one interview that he brought Hawkins down to an 'awful standard of snooker'
O'Sullivan has now revealed what he told Hawkins at the end of the match.
He said on the BBC: "I just said 'sorry mate, it was so bad'.
"I felt bad for him because if I'd have played alright, he'd have played alright and it would have been a good game.
"But I think I've just got this ability with some of the players, most of the players, that if I play bad then they play even worse.
"Not everybody, some of the other guys will punish me but that's how it is and it's been like that all my life really."
O'Sullivan isn't too confident that he will be back to his best on Saturday.
He added: "I suppose I can be happy with it, we'll see what happens Saturday.
"It could be even worse Saturday! I need 12 pockets on the table, six isn't enough!"
O'Sullivan has won the Masters seven times, more than any other player.
He didn't feel any nerves ahead of Thursday's match, which he reckons played a negative part on his performance.
O'Sullivan said: "No I didn't feel any pressure at all to be honest with you.
"That's probably a reason why... you need to feel a little bit of nerves.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Barry Hawkins on Thursday at the Masters
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"I think it's important to feel nerves before you go out and play just to get you geed up a little bit."
Hawkins believes he missed an opportunity to knock O'Sullivan out and reach the semi-final.
He reacted: "I let him [Ronnie] off the hook - I had enough chances.
"For some reason your mind wanders when you play Ronnie. I've got no complaints."
Barry Hawkins and Ronnie O'Sullivan
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O'Sullivan will spend Friday relaxing before returning to Ally Pally in search of his eighth title this weekend.
He concluded: "I'm going to have a chill tonight, massage, maybe three massages tomorrow, bit of a pedicure, get on my phone, chill out, spend the whole day in my robe and then come up here Saturday and hope for the best."
