Judd Trump made a statement victory over Barry Hawkins in the first round of the Masters after a 6-1 thrashing at the Alexandra Palace on Tuesday afternoon.
The 35-year-old is the hot favourite to win the competition this year as he looks to gun down a third Masters title.
It comes hours after an astonishing rant at his critics to start taking him more seriously, insisting that his achievements are ‘not appreciated’.
Trump was on course for a brilliant whitewash win by storming into a 5-0 lead before Hawkins notched up a score.
Judd Trump has roared into the second round of the Masters
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However, it did little to derail the Bristolian, who claimed a century break to land a spot in the next round for a third year running.
“It’s a special tournament, a special atmosphere. I’m so happy to be able to come back and play another game in front of this amazing crowd,” he said after the match.
“I think this is my favourite venue, I’ve been quite vocal about that. I love it here, I love the atmosphere. It’s so nice they’re able to get involved down to the table, it’s always special.”
Prior to a ball being potted, Trump revealed that he hoped a Grand Slam sweep would lead to people ‘taking him more seriously’.
Only Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and John Higgins have amassed more ranking titles than Trump (30) and he does not feel he is given credit for his achievements.
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He said earlier on Tuesday: “For my age I’ve won a lot of events and achieved a lot of things in snooker.
“Winning six ranking titles in a season gets forgotten about a little bit. I think it’s an extremely tough record to break.
“The amount of times I’ve managed to win four, five or six events in a season consistently.
“I’m proud of myself for what I’ve achieved. I don’t need other people to tell me how great it is, but it would be nice for people to recognise it.
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Judd Trump has already won the UK Championship and Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters
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“It’s probably something that happens when you retire.
“It seems to be the same in every sport, you’re not appreciated or people don’t appreciate what you’ve achieved until the end of your career.”
The world No. 1 has already won the UK Championship and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters this year – the latter already being dubbed the ‘fourth major’ of the snooker calendar – as well as the Shanghai Masters.
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Judd Trump wants people to take him more seriously
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Winning the Masters and World Championship would see him take home all Grand Slam titles and Trump is in rampant form.
“If I was to reach the semis or the final I think there would be something in the back of my mind,” he said.
“To win all four of those tournaments would be absolutely incredible. I hope then people would take me seriously.”