Second seed Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from her fourth round match in the middle of the second set, handing victory to France's Marion Bartoli.
Clijsters won the first set 6-3 but then called for the trainer early in the second set before packing it in with Bartoli leading 3-1.
Clijsters has complained of shoulder problems this week and has been getting regular treatments for the injury.
The injury dashes any hope Clijsters had of regaining the world number one ranking. Clijsters needed to post a better finish than Dane Caroline Wozniacki to do that.
Clijsters, who won Indian Wells in 2005 and 2003, ended her streak of reaching the final in her last five tournaments.
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Bartoli advances to the quarter-finals where she will face former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic who beat Jelena Jankovic 6-4 6-2 in an all-Serbian matchup earlier on Tuesday.
