to his opponent, O'Sullivan responded with clinical scoring which included six century breaks and a further 10 breaks of 50 throughout the match as he defeated Hawkins 18–12. For reaching the final he received prize money of £125,000, three times more than his previous biggest pay-day. Hawkins' turnaround from being a solid player to a ranking event winner and World Championship runner-up has been credited, in part, to his work with 1979 champion Terry Griffiths who has helped to give him the self-belief to make the most of his game. His successful season saw him climb 13 spots in the rankings to a career high world number nine, the first time he has finished a season inside the top 16 since 2006. 2013/2014 After a pair of second round exits in the opening two rankings events of the 2013–14 season, Hawkins levelled his quarter-final match against Mark Selby at the Shanghai Masters with a 140 break and then won the deciding frame to progress. In the semi-finals he was unable to match Ding Junhui's form as he was beaten 6–2. In a deciding frame against Shaun Murphy, Hawkins potted seven reds and seven blacks but had to make do with a break of 70 to take the match and reach the quarter-finals of the UK Championship for the first in his career. Hawkins led Selby 5–3, but went on to be beaten 6–5. In the semi-finals of the Welsh Open he lost 6–2 against Ronnie O'Sullivan. Second ranking title Hawkins played in all eight European Tour events during the season with his best result being a semi-final defeat at the Bulgarian Open, which helped him finish 25th on the Order of Merit and claim the final spot for the Finals. There he whitewashed Stephen Maguire 4–0 in the first round and then saw off Ryan Day 4–3 in an extremely tight match. Comfortable 4–1 victories over Yu Delu and Judd Trump followed as he reached the final. He faced an unlikely opponent in world number 66 and practice partner Gerard Greene. Hawkins did not give Greene a chance as he won the first two frames without him registering a point and completed a 4–0 win to take the £100,000 first prize. At the World Championship, Hawkins played Ricky Walden in the second round, a repeat of last year's semi-final. The match was similar to the one 12 months earlier too,