O'Sullivan said he had been focused on improving his form by using the golfer Tiger Woods as an example. "He's shown the way to be professional and how hard work pays off." He had gone into the tournament feeling confident because he had accumulated high breaks against his fellow players in practice. He stated he wanted to win approximately 50 to 60 championships to keep him motivated before his retirement and knew that reaching the level of Steve Davis and Hendry would be difficult. Higgins commented that O'Sullivan deserved to win the tournament, and admitted to have not taken advantage of his opportunities: "Even when I got back to 5–4 I couldn't put any pressure on him. I did well in these invitation events last season and not in the ranking tournaments so it would be nice if I can change that around."
