Rafael Nadal hits a return to Raemon Sluiter of The Netherlands during their first-round match of the Stockholm Open on Tuesday. (AP)

Stockholm: World No. 2 Rafael Nadal got off to a flying start at the Stockholm Open on Tuesday by beating Dutchman Ramon Sluter 6-4, 6-2 in the first round.

The top-seeded Spaniard, playing in the tournament for the first time, beat Sluiter in 91 minutes to set up a meeting with Sweden’s giant server Joachim Johansson.

“I feel good indoors,” said the 20-year-old, making his first tournament appearance since his quarter final loss to Russian Mikhail Youhzny in the US Open last month.

“I don’t feel that rusty, I’ve been training really hard at home in Mallorca to prepare myself for the end of this season,” added Nadal, who helped Spain beat Italy in the Davis Cup group playoffs two weeks ago.

Looking pumped up, Nadal broke Sluiter in the opening game of the match and never looked back.

Despite forcing the Spaniard into several tough rallies, Sluiter could not match the heavy topspin strokes of Nadal, who held his serve to clinch the first set.

He broke Sluiter twice in the second set and served it out on his first match point.

“It was a really nice atmosphere. It feels good to win some matches for the confidence,” added Nadal.

Home favourite Johansson, briefly ranked ninth in the world in 2005 before a shoulder injury forced him out for more than a year, outpowered Italian veteran Davide Sanguinetti to win 6-4, 6-4.

“He’s one of the world’s best servers, so it will be a tough match,” Nadal said of the promising 24-year-old Swede, who has slipped to 690 in the rankings. “I will try my best.”

The relatively slow indoor surface in Stockholm will be to the advantage of the Spanish claycourt specialist.

Belgian Kristof Vliegen, the only other seeded player in action on Tuesday, disposed of Chilean Nicolas Massu 6-2 , 6-4.

Vliegen is looking for his first ATP Tour title, after losing in the BMW Open final to Olivier Rochus in May.

Swedish wild card Andreas Vinciguerra got his first tour win of the year, beating Nicolas Devilder of France 6-4, 6-1, while Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman defeated Peter Wessels of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-2.

Spain’s Feliciano Lopez also advanced to the second round after Juan Monaco of Argentina pulled out with a knee injury when trailing 2-1 during the first set.

Marc Gicquel of France ousted Britain’s Jonathan Marray 6-4, 7-6 (3).