March 9

After having benefitted from a bye in the first round thanks to his status as the 13th seed, Milos Raonic jumped on to the court for the first time on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open as he was facing American Sam Querrey.

With both players equipped with a booming serve, Raonic and Querrey have always had tightly disputed matches in the past and this second round encounter was no exception. They were neck and neck in the opening set, needing a tiebreak to decide it. The Canadian stepped up his game and put on a nearly perfect performance in the tiebreak to take the lead in the match after 57 minutes of play.

Raonic continued his momentum into the second, converting on his third break point opportunity to take a 2-1 lead. This crucial break was enough for the Canadian No. 1, who moved on to the third round with a comfortable 7-6(1), 6-4 win. This victory marks the fourth time that Raonic has gotten the better of Querrey in their six career meetings.

In the next round, Raonic will face another American, qualifier Marcos Giron, who is currently ranked no. 215 in the world. Earlier in the day, Giron caused an upset over the #NextGenATP Australian Alex De Minaur (no. 23) after having defeated the Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the first round.

(Feature photo: Jared Wickerham/BNP Paribas Open)

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