Federer outclassed Dent to record his 727th tour win, in his first match in the Swedish capital for a decade.

It took the 16-time Grand Slam winner just 17 minutes to win the first set, breaking Dent twice.

Dent put up more of a fight in the second, having two break points in the fourth game, but Federer upped the tempo.

Federer never needed to demonstrate his full repertoire of shots to win, but he ripped one backhand pass in the second set that brought cheers from the crowd at the Royal Tennis Hall.

Earlier, Ivan Ljubicic pounded 12 aces to begin his debut with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

The fourth-seeded Croatian was never troubled on the slow indoor surface at the Kungligahallen by Clement, who he has now beaten ten times in succession.

In his last eight wins including Thursday, Ljubicic has lost just one set.

Clement, his ranking down to 60th at age 32, won their first two meetings in 2003 and a 2004 Davis Cup tie but has never had a look-in since.

Ljubicic never faced a break point while breaking Clement on four of six chances in the victory lasting 77 minutes.

“It was a good start for me,” said the Croatian, 31, who warmed up his good friend Roger Federer this week on the showcase court with 4,000 fans watching.

“I was playing well from the start.”

Two-time champion James Blake continued his charmed run at the event as he defeated German qualifier Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2) to run his Stockholm record to 15 wins and a single loss, which came in a 2007 semifinal to Thomas Johansson, now the Stockholm tournament director.

“I wish I could take this court with me everywhere,” said the American ranked 135 after a year of struggles - now ended - with a knee injury.

Blake won the title in 2005 and 2006. He will play in the quarterfinals Friday against Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, whom he defeated in the 2006 final and a quarterfinal at the next edition.

Stockholm is one of three cities (New Haven, Sydney) where he has lifted two titles.

Federer was beginning later with a second-round match against American Taylor Dent as the world No. 2 aims to make the most of his final four events of the 2010 season after losing last weekend’s Shanghai final to Andy Murray.

Swedish second seed Robin Soderling can move closer to securing his place in the eight-man season-ending championships next month in London with a win later in the second round against German Benjamin Becker.

The two-time home runner-up needs to reach the semifinals to be assured of a spot in the elite field, which has four spots still unclaimed. Already qualified are Rafael Nadal, Federer, Novak Djokovic and Murray, who went through last week.