Rafael Nadal has cruised past Denis Istomin into the second round of the US Open, courtesy of a 6-1 6-4 6-2 victory at Flushing Meadows.

The Spaniard was forced to withdraw midway through the French Open and was out of action until the Olympics earlier this month, but his troublesome wrist did not prove to be a problem on his New York bow.

Two-time winner Nadal made little mistake in his opening test of the competition, holding throughout the first set and breaking his opponent three times to ease into the lead.

Nadal was made to work a little harder in the second, losing serve in the seventh game but doing enough to take a two-set lead with his third set point.

Istomin could not live with his opponent and, after losing a drawn-out third game, the world number 97 saw his hopes of a major upset fade away as Nadal progressed through in a time of two hours.