Tuesday, August 18, 2009 OHIO: Gilles Simon of France advanced to the second round of the Cincinnati Masters with a 6-3 6-2 victory over American Wayne Odesnik. OhioSimon, the ninth seed, was the highest-ranked player in action on Monday as the top eight seeds all received byes. France's Gael Monfils, the 13th seed, lost 6-4 6-7 7-6 to Croat Ivo Karlovic. World number six Juan Martin del Potro has withdrawn because of fatigue having lost to Andy Murray on Sunday in the final of the Montreal Masters. After taking the first set thanks to one break, Karlovic led 5-4 in the second-set tiebreak, with two serves to come, but Monfils reeled off three superb points in a row to force a decider. The Frenchman saved three break points in the fourth game of the third set but Karlovic played a better tie-break to move through to a clash with another Frenchman, Paul-Henri Mathieu, a 6-7 7-5 6-3 winner over German Mischa Zverev. Simon will now play Russian Igor Andreev, who beat Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-1 7-5. Croatia's 14th seed Marin Cilic beat former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-4. He will play David Ferrer of Spain in the second round after he beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 7-5 6-2.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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