Second seed Maria Sharapova won her first title since last year’s French Open with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of Caroline Wozniacki in the final of the BNP Paribas Open yesterday.

In a showdown between two former world number ones, the second-seeded Russian overpowered the Dane with a ruthless display, breaking her twice in each set to seal victory in one hour 21 minutes.

Sharapova played aggressively throughout with an array of deep groundstrokes and superb serving to claim her second title at Indian Wells after winning for the first time in 2006.

The 25-year-old Russian ended the match in champion style with a 109 mph service winner before raising both arms in celebration.

“What makes it so special is when you end up as the champion, that’s why I am smiling,” Sharapova said.

“I really appreciate these moments. This is what I do all the work for. When you have days like this... it’s a really nice feeling because everything has paid off.”

Wozniacki, who like Sharapova was competing in her third final here, applauded the Russian’s high-quality performance.

“Maria played really well, better than me,” the Dane said. “Get my revenge hopefully in Miami (next week’s WTA event), maybe we will play in the final there as well.”