INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Canada’s Milos Raonic made the most of a late singles start at the BNP Paribas Open, upsetting 12th seed Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Tuesday to move into the fourth round.

Raonic, seeded 17th at the Tennis Garden, was playing his first singles match of the tournament after a first-round bye and a walkover in the second round after French opponent Michael Llodra withdrew injured. He and Spain’s Feliciano Lopez lost in the doubles second round after beating Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Mahesh Bhupathi in their opener.

Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., will face eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the next round. Tsonga and Raonic faced off in the second round of the London Olympics, with the Frenchman finally prevailing 25-23 in the third set.

Tuesday’s contest quickly turned into a predictable battle of huge serves, with Raonic earning victory with 16 aces — his last one on match point — while his opponent managed eight.

Raonic lost his only service game when Cilic took a 4-2 lead on the way to winning the opening set. Raonic broke once per set in the last two as he turned the tables and headed for victory.

Raonic’s victory gave him his best finish at the event after stalling in the third round at the last two editions.

He now stands 1-1 with Cilic after losing to the Croatian two years ago in Valencia.