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A fatigued Sharapova, chasing a second successive WTA Tour title, went down 7-5 6-2 to fellow Russian Elena Dementieva.
In the first semi-final, the 19-year-old Sharapova lost a pulsating opening set in just over an hour after battling back from 1-5 down.
Third-seeded Dementieva, using superb groundstrokes from the baseline, then took advantage of a series of unforced errors by her opponent to sweep through the second set.
It was her second victory over Sharapova in seven career meetings and ended a run of eight wins in a row by the world number four.
When you play against Maria, she is a great fighter and never gives up. That makes it difficult to play against her."
Sharapova, who had not dropped a set in her run of eight wins, felt she had paid the price for playing nine matches in 13 days.
"I haven't played this much in a while," she said after an erratic performance featuring 46 unforced errors and eight double-faults.
"I just felt a little flat today. I put two points together and would deflate for the next four. But I guess that's normal after playing so many matches in a row.
"But she made me work for it," added Sharapova, who was broken seven times by Dementieva but saved six match points on her serve in the final game. "She played really well defensively."
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