The legendary Ronnie O'Sullivan, who boasts 41 career ranking titles to his name, is in supreme form having won 15 successive matches – claiming the UK Championship, The Masters and World Grand Prix in the process. His last defeat came in the semi-final of the International Championship in November.
He is on course to become just the fourth individual to complete the seasonal triple crown – he needs to win the World Championship in May – and is an irresistible force when in this kind of form. He has hit 16 century breaks over the last three tournaments. He's 11/4 to claim a third German Masters – although he hasn't tasted success at the event since 2012.
O'Sullivan will open his campaign in a qualifying match against Belgian Julien Leclercq – a first career meeting between the two. His biggest rivals in the third quarter of the draw are likely to be Mark Selby (15/2) and Ryan Day (66/1).
World Grand Prix finalist Judd Trump is second in the betting at 7/2. The 34-year-old's form appeared to peak in October when he won three successive ranking events – the English, Wuhan and Northern Irish Opens.
He reached the Champion of Champions final in November, losing 10-3 to Mark Allen, before his defeat to O'Sullivan in the World Grand Prix last week – he had led 4-0 in the 19-frame match but lost seven of the last eight frames in the 10-7 loss.
Trump won the German Masters in 2020 and 2021, reaching the final once more in 2014. He sits in the second quarter of the draw and begins with a qualifier against Lukas Kleckers – Trump has won all three meetings with the German by an aggregate score of 15-2.
The former world champion has tricky opponents in his quarter of the draw including Mark Allen (12/1), Zhang Anda (28/1) and John Higgins (14/1).
Quarter number one is headed by the top seed Ali Carter (18/1), who lost to O'Sullivan in the UK Championship final this season. He won the German Masters 12 months ago, beating Louis Heathcote, Pang Junxu, Robert Milkins and Tom Ford by an aggregate score of 26 frames to 12.
Carter has not won a tournament since, but he did reach the finals of the 2023 Players Championship, Wuhan Open and The Masters without success. Carter begins his campaign against Michael White, an opponent with whom he has had trouble. All five meetings have been decided by two frames or less, with Carter coming out on top 3-2 in the series.
Shaun Murphy (12/1) and Mark Williams (11/1) are two famous names in the top quarter of the draw that could oppose Carter at some stage.
Belgian Luca Brecel (20/1) is the second seed and resides in the bottom quarter of the draw. The 2023 World Champion has not lifted a trophy since that success at The Crucible and has failed to pass the third round in any ranking event in the 2023-24 season.
There are also threats aplenty in his part of the draw with Neil Robertson (14/1), Barry Hawkins (16/1), Kyren Wilson (14/1), Joe Perry (125/1) and Tom Ford (50/1).
