O'Sullivan was in dominant form in his first-round match

The 2001 and 2004 champion made two half-centuries and two tons on his way to carving out a 7-2 lead on Tuesday.

When play resumed, he extended his lead to 8-2 after Harold missed a black and then a break of 100 put him on the brink of victory.

Harold responded with a 94 and then won the next but the end soon came and an 88 O'Sullivan break sealed victory.

"It's nice to get the first round out of the way," said the 30-year-old Essex player after his first win since January. "I got out of the blocks early and put some pressure on Dave.

"I'm enjoying snooker at the moment and hopefully I can have a good run here. I'm pleased with my win and all I can do now is focus on my own game."

Harold blamed an "outrageous fluke" in the first frame to send O'Sullivan on his way.

"That was a killer for me," said the 39-year-old from Stoke. "Ronnie is hard enough to play at any time but when he gets the run as well.

"He kept getting little flicks that helped him and all I could do was sit there and laugh. But he won fair and square.

"He's definitely one of the favourites for the title but I think he will have to up his game a bit. Perhaps he came here with a bit of trepidation after losing a couple of first-round matches."

R O'Sullivan (Eng) 10-4 D Harold (Eng)
113-14 (106) 87-40 (67) 80-14 73-40 139-0 (139) 86-12 86-0 (70) 0-80 (80) 61-69 66-46 100-0 (100) 6-94 (94) 62-76 (O'Sullivan 54) 93-0 (88).