DOHA - China had to pin their hopes of clinching the women's singles title on Zheng Jie as their top seed Li Na lost to Sania Mirza from India here at the Asian Games tennis tournament on Tuesday.

Li, who hadn't hit top gear since the inception of the team event at the December 4-14 tournament, conceded a 6-2, 6-2 semifinal loss to Mirza in just one hour and five minutes at the Center Court of the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex.

Coming into Doha as the top seed at the Games and 21st-ranked player in the world, Li was just unable to find way out breaking in-form Mirza's serve and awarded two serve breaks to her opponent in each set apiece.

"She (Mirza) just played really, really well, there was nothing I could do about it," said 24-year-old Li, who made history for Chinese by reaching last eight at the Grand Slam Wimbledon this year.

"I felt as though the ball was coming off my racket easily. She deserved to win."

Li also belted 27 unforced errors against 17 for fourth seed Mirza.

The 20-year-old Mirza, who has struggled with form throughout this year after a strong 2005 season, began the Asian Games campaign triumphantly with a silver-medal-winning performance at the women's team event and continued her good shape both in mixed doubles and women's singles.

"As I had seen her play before, I knew I had to attack her with strong forehand. The wind also forced me to change my play when we changed sides," said Mirza.

"I had to keep the momentum in the second set because a ranked player like Li could fight back at anytime. I have played her once before a year ago, but I lost."

In an earlier semifinal match, China's second seed Zheng Jie needed only one hour and 16 minutes to beat Japan's third seed Aiko Nakamura 6-3, 6-2. Zheng will play Mirza in the final on Thursday.