Sania Mirza's dream run at the USD 1.3 million Acura Classic at San Diego came to an abrupt halt with a loss to Japan's Akiko Morigami.
Playing before a packed crowd at the Grandstand, Morigami carved out a hardfought 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over the 18-year-old Indian on Thursday.
The world number 61 had also beaten Sania in the Cincinnati quarter-finals last month and now leads the Hyderabadi girl 2-1 in career head-to-head meetings. Sania's lone triumph over Morigami came in the first round at Wimbledon this year.
Sania, currently ranked 59th on the WTA rankings, had posted a stunning 6-2, 6-1 victory over world number nine Nadia Petrova of Russia in the second round on Wednesday.
To her credit, the unseeded Indian also notched up two qualifying round wins and a first round victory over Tathiana Garbin of Italy.
Despite the loss, Sania is set to break into the world's top 50 in the latest WTA Tour rankings, making her the first Indian woman to do so.
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