Sania Mirza’s brilliant run at the WTA Japan Open ended with a crushing 2-6 1-6 mauling in the semi-final at the hands of world number 26 and fourth seed Francesca Schiavone here on Saturday.
Sania had beaten Shahar Peer and Marian Bartoli en route to the last-four stage. It was for the third time in the season that Sania had made the singles semi-final of an WTA event.
The Indian earned 130 ranking points and USD 10,200 as prize money for her brilliant effort through the week in the USD 220,000 hard court event.
Sania could not play the way she did against Peer and Bartoli, who had retired mid-way due to a shoulder injury, and lost her semifinal within an hour.
Sania saved a breakpoint in the first set but the Italian still broke her twice to race away with the lead.
The second set was again a lop-sided affair with Schiavone breaking Sania twice as she quickly wrapped up the affair.
