Sania Mirza squandered a one-set lead to lose to 13th seed Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the singles semi-final of the Aegon Classic, thus missing an opportunity to play her second final of the year.
The unseeded Indian began in brilliant fashion but ran out of steam as the match progressed to lose 6-3, 0-6, 3-6 in one hour and 34 minutes, in Birmingham on Saturday.
Sania’s brilliant run at the $220,000 WTA event fetched her 130 ranking points and $10,000 in prize money.
The Indian though has an opportunity to reach the doubles final as she and Chinese Taipei partner Chia-Jung Chuang will play the semi-finals against top-seeded pair of Cara Black and Lizel Huber.
Sania’s effort in reaching the last-four stage was her best singles result since making the final of the Pattaya Open in February.
In four tournaments since then, including the Australian Open, she was ousted in the second round and on three other occasions she failed to cross the first-round hurdle.
At the Madrid Masters, her campaign was cut short in the qualifying event.
{{/usCountry}}At the Madrid Masters, her campaign was cut short in the qualifying event.
{{/usCountry}}At the second Grand Slam of the year - the French Open - she made a shocking first-round exit.