Williams' enjoyed a superb spell of play in October 2013. It began at the minor-ranking Ruhr Open where he won five games to reach the semi-finals, but he lost 4–0 against Mark Allen.&lt;ref name="2013/14"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; At the Indian Open he beat Shaun Murphy to qualify and received a bye through the first round due to Kyren Wilson's withdrawal. Williams then swept into his first ranking event semi-final with the loss of just one frame as he eliminated Andrew Higginson (4–1), Mike Dunn (4–0) and Anthony McGill (4–0). A last four meeting with Ding Junhui followed and it proved a match too far for Williams as he was beaten 4–1. His aforementioned semi-final run in Germany helped him to finish 26th on the European Order of Merit, just one spot short of qualifying for the Finals.