Five-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan insists he is still heading in the right direction despite crashing out of the German Masters following a final-frame thriller in Berlin.

O’Sullivan had already beaten Joe Perry 5-0 in the second round on Friday afternoon when he took on Masters champion Shaun Murphy in the evening session at the Tempodrom.

The Chigwell potter had his chances in a back-and-forth encounter but breaks of 33 and 34 in the decider were enough to see Murphy home 5-4.

O’Sullivan looked strong as he made a fluent break of 134 en route to turning a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 advantage, but world No. 10 Murphy reeled off three frames on the trot to clinch victory.

And ‘The Rocket’ refused to take anything away from his opponent after the match.

“Shaun played a good match and he has had a good tournament,” said O’Sullivan. “He won the Masters playing some fantastic snooker, so he’s on a good roll at the moment.

“He deserved his victory but I had my chances – going 2-0 behind wasn’t ideal but I got myself back to 4-2 and then I had a few opportunities to win it.

“I thought I was going to win it in the last frame, so I’m disappointed but on a positive note, I’ve played better in this tournament than I did at the UK Championship and the Masters.

“My form is heading in the right direction – I was pretty average at the UK Championship and the Masters, so I feel like I’m building some momentum now.”

O’Sullivan sat at number three in the world rankings coming into the German Masters although he will move up to world No.1 unless Mark Selby wins the tournament.

And while the 39-year-old believes Lady Luck wasn’t on his side against Murphy, he is looking forward to putting the result behind him and moving on to the next event.

“I felt a few things didn’t go my way early on and the run of the ball can make a difference in a match of that quality,” added O’Sullivan.

“But there have been times in the past where I’ve had the run of the ball and that has got me through matches so that’s just snooker.

“You have to learn to roll with it – there will be a tournament soon and I will just have to get myself up for that.”

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