He was selected to compete in the 2010 Premier League, due to his success from the previous season, the first time he has competed in the event for five years, but failed to reach the semi-finals. At the 2010 UK Championship he reached the final, his run including a 9–8 victory over Shaun Murphy after trailing 6–8, but lost against John Higgins 9–10 in the final, after leading 7–2, 8–4 and 9–5 at some points of the match, as well as leading the 17th frame by 29 points with only the colours remaining, meaning Higgins needed a snooker to stay in the match. Williams' next tournament was the Masters, where he lost 4–6 in the first round against Ding Junhui. Williams won the first ranking event of 2011, the German Masters, by defeating Mark Selby 9–7 in the final. At the China Open Williams lost in the first round 4–5 against Stephen Lee, despite making four centuries.