Steve Davis believes Ronnie O'Sullivan will recapture his potting prowess in time to be a contender again at the Betfred World Championship.
Since landing the Masters title in January, O'Sullivan's consistency has dropped off the edge of the table.
The 41-year-old has failed to win back-to-back matches in the five tournaments he has played after leaving Alexandra Palace as a record-breaking seven-time Masters winner.
Defeats to Judd Trump and Neil Robertson will never raise alarm bells, but Mark King, Mark Davis and Mark Joyce have also claimed O'Sullivan's scalp in that short time.
After those three Marks, O'Sullivan may need to beat another, defending world champion Mark Selby, to triumph for a sixth time in Sheffield, and many suspect that will be beyond him this year.
Davis, whose 1980s haul of Crucible titles O'Sullivan will be striving to match, gives the Rocket a shot based on his apparent ability to flick a switch and light up snooker's greatest stages.
"Ronnie's still one of the favourites. Regardless of how the season unfolds for Ronnie, what he is is a big-occasion player," Davis said.
"He is not overawed by the Crucible, he doesn't crack up under pressure. He's the ultimate machine, it's just the fact there are so many good players around that you're not guaranteed to win.
"But he very rarely has a poor match, crumbling due to the situation. He's going to have a shout and he's proven that because he's already won on the big stage this season, so don't write him off just yet."
O'Sullivan will be making his 25th Crucible appearance, having made his debut when losing to Alan McManus in the first round in 1993.
"There's more expectation on his shoulders because people still expect him to do well," Davis said. "And perhaps he feels that a bit more now because he knows that he can't always produce his best all the time. That might be a pressure but I don't think so really."
Selby and Judd Trump are widely just ahead of O'Sullivan in the bookmakers' title reckoning, a sign that even the belief in long-time backers of the five-time world champion may be at breaking point.
John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy could join the trophy hunt, come the business end of snooker's 17-day 'marathon of the mind', with Marco Fu, Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins credible dark horses.
By triumphing in 2014 and 2016, the steely Selby has displaced O'Sullivan as the toughest man to beat on the baize and showed he is in form by winning the China Open in early April.
However the Crucible, which reaches its 40th anniversary as a World Championship venue this year, can do strange things to even players of the greatest standing.
Davis knows that all too well.
In 1982 he surrendered his title in the first round, not merely beaten but trounced by Tony Knowles, a 10-1 scoreline telling Davis snooker's greatest venue can also be its most punishing.
The 59-year-old, who announced his playing retirement at the Crucible last year, considers everyone vulnerable at the last-32 stage.
"Most of the time I felt comfortable but in first-round matches you didn't," said Davis."They're a horrifying, frightening round for every player. It's the banana skin that could ruin your season in just one day.
"If you're going to crack up, sometimes at the Crucible you can crack up and you can dismantle, and you can't get it back again.
"The dressing room is a sanctuary to get back to. A bit like a boxer getting beaten up in the middle of the ring, and then the bell goes and he can't wait to get back to his stool.
"There are times out there at the Crucible where you can't wait to get away and talk to your friends or your coach, to try to pull yourself back together again and put a sticking plaster on your brain.
"I think it's the fact it's so intimate a venue and everyone can see when you've cracked up. You can't hide from anyone in the room.
"You can nearly be touched by the crowd, and you can feel that they can feel what you're going through. You're going to go through a gamut of emotions."
