Britain's Anne Keothavong lost to Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson in the semi finals of the Cellular South Cup in Memphis.
The 26-year-old Londoner, who has only recently returned from a six-month lay-off due to a knee injury, was hoping to secure a place in her first WTA Tour final.
However she lost 6-4 4-6 6-4 to Arvidsson to crash out at the semi-final stage in the same competition for a second successive year.
"It wasn't to be. It's been a long road back and I have to put everything into perspective," she said.
Top seed Maria Sharapova won the second semi-final, seeing off fifth seed Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-3.