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 The 2012 champion polished off the opening set in just 34 minutes
as she raced towards a first 'double bagel' at the tournament in two
years.
"I think the key was the start. I started really well and took
control and I think in the second set, she wasn't really feeling
well," Azarenka, who faces big-serving Czech Karolina Pliskova in
the semi-finals, told reporters.
"I'm glad I stayed focused on my game."
Following the first set, the unseeded Rybarikova took a medical
timeout to have her upper thigh taped.
Rybarikova was clearly struggling by the end of the match but the
unseeded Slovakian was always fighting a lost cause as she had her
serve broken six times and finished with 25 unforced errors.
 Azarenka continues her rise up the rankings after two
injury-hampered seasons and the former world number one is exuding
confidence in California this week, having dropped just one set in
her tournament.
A victory in the final on Sunday would be the 15th-ranked Azarenka's
second tournament win of the season after her Brisbane International
triumph in January. "I'm very happy to be playing and to be
improving," she said. "It's a different stage of my career where I
can work hard and enjoy myself. I see the potential and that's
exciting."
Earlier, Pliskova enjoyed a similarly dominant victory when she
cruised into the semi-finals with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Russian
teenager Darya Kasatkina. Top seed Serena Williams will take on
third-seeded Pole Agnieska Radwanska in Friday's other semi-final.
Pliskova blasted 30 winners and powered down nine aces to end
Kasatkina's fairytale run in California, wrapping up the win in a
little more than an hour at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
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The 18-year-old Russian was unable to replicate the form she
produced in ousting 12th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets in
the previous round as she was overpowered by the world number 19.
"I was really happy with the way I played, I think it was one of the
best matches that I played here so far," Pliskova, 24, told
reporters after reaching her first WTA 'premier mandatory'
semi-final.
"I played some good tennis this week, and then there is Miami (next
week), so I have chances to improve my ranking and get close to the
top 10 again."
While Kasatkina's dream run at Indian Wells finally came to an end,
the 48th-ranked Russian was able to reflect on her rapid improvement
since this time last year when she was toiling away on the
lower-tier ITF circuit.
"Now I'm (going to be) top 40," Kasatkina said of her rise up the
world rankings. "Last year I was 340. Yeah, it was pretty fast!"
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes and Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles;
Editing by John O'Brien)
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