Milos Raonic through to third round at Paris Masters By QMI Agency

Milos Raonic to hits a return to Jeremy Chardy during the Paris Masters in Paris, France, Oct. 31, 2012. (BENOIT TESSIER/Reuters)

Milos Raonic couldn't break Jeremy Chardy's serve until it mattered most.

After splitting the opening two sets in his second-round match with Chardy at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris Wednesday, Raonic rolled over the Frenchman in the third to secure a hard-fought 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win. He won the last three games of the final set, including a break of Chardy's serve in the eighth game, to advance.

"It was a tough win, I had to fight," Raonic said. "I was not as comfortable as I could have been with my ground strokes, so I had to rely on my serve."

The result sets up a third-round matchup Thursday between 14th-seeded Raonic and unseeded American Sam Querrey, who upset second-seeded Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Raonic turned it up in the third set aftter tie-breakers were needed in the first two. He drilled 10 of his 26 aces in the third set -- Chardy had just one ace -- and double faulted once. The 21-year-old from Thornhill also saved all three breaks points he faced in the third set.