Simon advances in Cincinnati tennis

CINCINNATI, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Frenchman Gilles Simon eliminated American wild card Wayne Odesnik in straight sets Monday at Cincinnati's hard-court Western & Southern Financial Masters.

Simon, the No. 9 seed, won the opening-round match 6-3, 6-2 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

Croatia's Ivo Karlovic defeated Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2) and Russian Igo Andreev turned back Germany's Nicolas Kiefer 6-1, 7-5.

Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, a qualifier, moved ahead with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Florent Serra of France.

Other winners included Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathier, Benjamin Becker of Germany and Argentine Jose Acasuso, who will face world No. 1 and top-seed Roger Federer of Switzerland in the second round.

The defending tournament champion is Scot Andy Murray, who will open against Almagro.