By Niall Clarke
- Laura Robson will receive direct entry in to the US Open main draw
- This is courtesy of her protected ranking
- The Brit is on the comeback trail after a long term wrist injury.
Britain’s Laura Robson will receive direct entry in to the US Open main draw courtesy of her protected ranking.
The former British number one suffered an injury at the Australian Open last year that kept her out until last month, where she made her return at Eastbourne. Robson also received a wildcard entry in to Wimbledon last month, but failed to make it past the first round.
Due to her long term injury, the 21 year old is allowed to enter eight tournaments based on the ranking she previously held before the layoff. Robson finished 46th in the world back in 2013 before her injury, so is allowed direct entry into the final grand slam of the year.
In an attempt to regain the form that saw her reach the fourth at Flushing Meadow’s three years ago, Robson- now ranked 913th in the world- entered an ITF tournament in Canada, hoping to gain some much needed confidence and ranking points.
Heading in to her match against second seeded Naomi Osaka, the Brit had not won a match since September 2013. She got off to a good start here though, taking the first set on a tiebreak 7-5. The second set would also go the distance, only this time it would be the Japanese who would take it, also 7-5.
With the match firmly poised heading in to the third set, Robson upped her game enough to earn a break, and she went on to close out the match 6-3 after two and a half hours on court. It was a big victory for the 21 year old after going nearly two years without a win.
Robson will now look to back that up with another victory in the second round against WTA world number 498 Ellie Halbauer.
Robson will take to court at 17:00 GMT. You can follow her progress via our live scoring service:
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