Maria is into the final at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells as No.15 seed Ana Ivanovic retired with a back injury.  The score was 6-4 0-1 when Ivanovic retired.

In the first set, Maria was broken in the first game as Ivanovic built a 2-0 lead.  In the third game of the set, Maria broke Ivanovic's serve to get the set back on serve when she hit a forehand winner down the line.  At 3-2 after a marathon game on her serve, Maria managed to hold her serve after facing three breakpoints.  Maria broke Ivanovic in the next game on her third break point with a forehand winner down the line.  Maria held her serve to love in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead and Ivanovic then held her serve and called for a medical time-out for a back injury.  After the time-out Maria held her serve to 30 to take the set when Ivanovic netted a forehand.

At the beginning of the second set, Ivanovic held in the first game and in the next game on Maria's serve at 30-0, Ivanovic decided that she was unable to continue the match and retired.

This will be Maria's second final at Indian Wells, previously Maria won the tournament in 2006 against Elena Dementieva.

Maria will play world No.1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the final on Sunday. The match will start at 11.00 PM PT (2.00 PM ET & 7.00 PM CET). Maria has played the 23-year-old seven times before and Azarenka leads the series 4-3.  Here are the matches they have played against each other:
Moscow 2007 R2: Azarenka won 7-6 6-2
Los Angeles 2009 R2: Maria won 6-7 6-4 6-2
Beijing 2009 R2: Maria won 6-3 6-7 7-5
Stanford 2010 Final: Azarenka won 6-4 6-1
Miami 2011 Final: Azarenka won 6-1 6-4
Rome 2011 Quarter-Final: Maria won 4-6 3-0 ret. 
Australian Open 2012 Final: Azarenka won 6-3 6-0