Milos Raonic beats Marin Cilic in lanky battle

Milos Raonic came out on top in a three-set tussle against Marin Cilic to reach the last 16 at Indian Wells.

Early on both tall players blasted serves down to hold easily before Raonic afforded Cilic two break points in the sixth game and the Croat took the first to move ahead.

He went on to serve out the opener 6-4 in 35 minutes but couldn't take control of the second, squandering two break points in the opening game before Raonic snatched the set 6-4 by breaking in the 10th game.

The Canadian continued his momentum by racing to a 3-0 lead at the start of the third and didn't let up, taking the third 6-3 to wrap up victory in a minute under two hours.

The 17th seed will next play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who won both tie breaks to oust home favourite Mardy Fish earlier.