Ashleigh Barty's dream season is over, the Australian outgunned by Coco Vandeweghe in the WTA Elite Trophy semi-finals.
Barty had powered past Angelique Kerber and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova this week to reach the final four of China's season-ending event.
But Vandeweghe, who is coached by Australia's Pat Cash, turned the tables on the 21-year-old, controlling baseline rallies and cruising on her own serve in the 6-3 6-3 victory.
The loss means Barty will finish the year as high as 16 in the world, up from a career-high 20 to start the week and 323 this time last year.
The American, who will finish the week in the world's top-10 for the first time, only lost one point on serve and broke Barty twice in the first set.
A valiant Barty saved three match points on serve in the second set, but Vandeweghe's heavy hitting meant she was always in control of a contest that barely lasted an hour.
Vandeweghe will play Julia Goerges in Sunday's final after the German ousted Anastasija Sevastova 6-3 6-3 in the other semi-final.
