At the 2008 Shanghai Masters, Cope scored the second competitive 147 of his career against Mark Williams, but lost their last-16 match 2–5. In the 2009 World Championship, Cope beat Joe Perry in the first round 10–6 and was close to upsetting twice world champion John Higgins in the second round. He was 12–10 up and was looking good to win the match, but ultimately Higgins surged back to win 13–12. This meant that he finished the season ranked at No. 18, still unable to break into the elite top 16. In the 2009–10 season he never progressed beyond the second round of a ranking tournament. Although he qualified for the World Championship, he lost 10–4 in the first round to Ali Carter. On top of this, an unexpected run to the final by Graeme Dott meant that Dott overtook Cope in the rankings and left Cope outside the world's top 16 for another season, albeit at a career high ranking of 17th.