Andrey Rublev cools off Tiafoe to reach Indian Wells fourth round 

WATCH: Andrey Rublev defeats Frances Tiafoe in the third round match of 2022 Indian Wells.

The last time that Andrey Rublev and Frances Tiafoe met on a center court in the United States, the match was a high-octane, back-and-forth contest between two of the men’s tour’s most gifted shotmakers: spurred on by the rocking US Open crowd, Tiafoe stunned Rublev in a dramatic, five-set upset that lasted into the early morning hours.

Their rematch at the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday evening once again featured plenty of high-quality shotmaking, but this time things were much more straightforward for the No. 7-seeded Rublev, who punched his ticket into the fourth round after a 6-3, 6-4 win.

The Russian has been quietly making his way through the draw in Indian Wells with an uncharacteristic calm about him—Tennis Channel analyst Jim Courier even pointed out Rublev’s signature grunt sounded subdued against Tiafoe. But he has not dropped a set en route to the second week at the ATP 1000 event, with victories over Dominik Koepfer and Tiafoe.

It probably helps that Rublev is riding a double-digit winning streak. Rublev jolted to life after a sluggish Australian swing to reach the semifinals in Rotterdam and win back-to-back titles in Marseille and Dubai. In between, the Russian also lifted a doubles trophy with good friend Denys Molchanov, of Ukraine.

Rublev extended his win streak to 11 matches, improving to 16-2 on the season. He will take on No. 11 seed Hubert Hurkacz, after the Pole edged past Steve Johnson 7-6(7), 6-3 to advance. Hurkacz will take a 2-1 head-to-head lead into the clash with Rublev.

Much like in their previous meeting, Tiafoe came out of the gate swinging against Rublev and employed a clear game plan: keep the vulnerable Rublev second serve under as much pressure as possible. Tiafoe was contesting just his sixth match of the year after struggling with an elbow injury, and he gave his opponent plenty of trouble across a tight opening set.

The American frequently returned serve from inside the baseline, and often followed the shot into the net for a volley winner. But it was a tactic that only worked for so long, as Rublev has long gotten used to his opponents trying to exploit this weakness in his game. The seventh seed recovered from an early break in the first set, and steadily dialed up the aggression in exchanges that followed.

Soon, Tiafoe’s resistance seemed to fizzle out as the American grew increasingly frustrated—he created three chances to break the Rublev serve but could only capitalize on one, as the Russian closed out the victory in 71 minutes.

Rublev, No. 7 in the ATP rankings, is seeking his first Masters 1000 title after reaching two finals at that level last year.