quarter-finals of the Welsh Open. Victories over Tom Ford, Graeme Dott and Stephen Maguire saw Hawkins play in his fourth World Championship semi-final in five years, but he didn't capitalise on the chances that came his way against John Higgins and was eliminated 17–8. 2017/2018 In December 2017, Hawkins advanced to the third round of the UK Championship after beating Kurt Dunham and Hammad Miah, but was knocked out by Akani Songsermsawad after suffering a 6–0 defeat. After match, Hawkins said that he was "in a state of shock" for his performance. In January 2018, Hawkins was defeated by the eventual finalist Kyren Wilson in the first round of the Masters, he lost 6–4. In March, Hawkins reached the final of the Welsh Open after beating the likes of Tom Ford, Martin Gould, Yan Bingtao, and Noppon Saengkham. He faced John Higgins in the final. Despite making three centuries, he eventually lost 9–7. In April, Hawkins reached another final in a ranking event, this time he faced Mark Selby in the final of the China Open. But Selby, the defending champion, was proven to be too strong for Hawkins on the day, Hawkins lost by 11–3. In May, Hawkins maintained his excellent record at the Crucible, after beating Stuart Carrington, Lyu Haotian, and Ding Junhui, he reached another semi-final at the World Snooker Championship and faced Mark Williams. The match was a nervy classic, with a total of 20 breaks over 50 between the two players, Williams eventually won 17–15. 2018/2019 In September 2018, Hawkins reached the final of the Shanghai Masters, an invitational tournament, after winning against Stephen Maguire, Mark Williams, and Ding Junhui, and set up a final with the defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. After leading 6–4 at the end of the morning session, Hawkins eventually lost 11–9. In December, Hawkins was knocked out of the UK Championship in the round of last 16 after losing 6–2 to Kyren Wilson. At the Masters, Hawkins advanced to the quarter final after beating Shaun Murphy 6–2 in the first round, but he was defeated by Neil Robertson in the next round, losing 6–3. In May 2019, Hawkins reached the second round of the World Snooker Championship after thrashing Li Hang 10–1 in the first round, he faced Kyren Wilson next. It was a high quality match, two players produced a total of 9 centuries during the match, but after leading