In the World Championship, there were concerns that Murphy's estranged wife would serve him divorce papers during play of his first-round match against Andrew Higginson. He defeated Higginson 10–8 without incident, although his wife's parents were present in the arena and were asked to leave. He went on to defeat Fu 13–3, Hendry 13–11, and Neil Robertson 17–14, to earn a place in his second world final with two-time world champion Higgins as his opponent. In the final, he trailed 5–11 after the first day, and was beaten 9–18 by Higgins. On the first day of the final, a newspaper published a "kiss and tell" story involving Murphy.