World number one Victoria Azarenka has won the women's final at Indian Wells with a convincing straight-sets victory over Maria Sharapova.

Azarenka began with all the confidence of the world's highest-ranked female player as she broke Sharapova's first service game.

The Russian managed to steady herself against the Belarusian's powerful groundstrokes, but she was broken again as Azarenka took the set 6-2.

The Australian Open winner turned the screw in the second as she raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to some devastating forehands.

There was still some fight in the Russian as she broke her opponent for the first time in the match.

However, Azarenka broke back immediately before Sharapova dug deep to break the 22-year-old for the second time.

Azarenka held serve to put the pressure back on the Russian, but Sharapova was unable to hold as Azarenka won the set 6-3 to claim her fourth title of the season.