The supreme Swiss, who last triumphed in New York in 2008, needed just 77 minutes to cruise to a dominant 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 success in sweltering conditions.

Federer came into the event on the back of taking the Cincinnati Masters crown by beating world number one Novak Djokovic and looked in superb touch again as he made light work of the 28-year-old Argentinian.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, third seed Andy Murray of Britain, who won the US Open in 2012, claimed victory in the pick of the first round matches as he overcame the tough test of controversial Australian Nick Kyrgios.

In what was an entertaining encounter, Murray produced a brilliant attacking display, breaking seven times on his way to a 7-5 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory to set up a meeting with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the second round.

Murray would perhaps have been cursing his luck at drawing the fiery Australian, who is expected to have a bright future in the sport, in the first round but he was able to negotiate the challenge provided by the 20-year-old.

Kyrgios ,making his first Grand Slam appearance since being fined for making lewd comments about Stanislas Wawrinka’s girlfriend during a match at the Montreal Masters, did cause the Briton a slight scare by clinching the third set but Murray hit back ruthlessly in the fourth to secure his spot in round two.

“It was tough and I had to do a lot of running in very humid conditions,” Murray said.

“He can play all of the shots, he serves extremely well, he's a fantastic athlete, a big guy, he covers the court extremely well.

“It's tough to get the ball out of his strike zone.

"It was a very tricky match and I just fought hard, mixed it up and managed to get through.”

Federer’s counterpart Wawrinka, seeded fifth, is also through to round two as he swept aside Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 7-5, 6-4 7-6.

It proved to be another difficult day for the women’s seeds as French Open runner-up Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic was beaten in straight sets by Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.

Sixth seed Safarova struggled early on and dropped the opening set 6-4, before Tsurenko, ranked at number 37 in the world, completed the surprise win by taking the second 6-1.

Czech two-times Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who has never gone beyond round four at Flushing Meadows, had no such troubles as she progressed by virtue of a 6-1, 6-1 success over Laura Siegemund of Germany.

Simona Halep of Romania began her pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title after opponent Marina Erakovic of New Zealand couldn’t continue when trailing 6-2, 3-0.

Her retirement was the 11th of the tournament so far as temperatures continued to soar throughout the day and followed seven withdrawals on the opening day, the highest number at a Grand Slam event for nine years.

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