Ivo Karlovic has progressed to the second round of the Cincinnati Open courtesy of a 6-4 6-7[3] 6-3 victory over Gilles Simon.

The Frenchman struggled against his opponent's powerful serve as the big Croatian dictated the pace of the contest and claimed the first set after breaking Simon's serve at 4-4.

Simon fared better as the second set went to tie-break, taking advantage with some nice shots to peg the scores back, but Karlovic claimed the final set with ease, breaking serve early on and cruising to victory.

Karlovic will now take on Martin Klizan in the second round.