Sania Mirza's brilliant run at the WTA Japan Open ended with a crushing 2-6, 1-6 defeat in the semifinal at the hands of world number 26 and fourth seed Italian Francesca Schiavone in Osaka this morning. Sania's defeat meant that the Indian has now lost all three encounters against her Italian friend. The Hyderabadi 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 semifinal of an WTA 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.