Tennis: Laura Robson clinches first win since September 2013

Laura Robson has two reasons to celebrate following a hard-fought victory over Naomi Osaka at the Granby National Bank Challenger event in Canada.

The former British number one has slipped down to number 913 in the women's world rankings, having climbed as high as 27 in 2013 before a serious wrist injury took her out of action for almost 18 months.

However, she is back to winning ways with victory over Osaka, a Japanese teenager ranked inside the top 200. Her 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3 success over the tournament's number two seed is her first since beating Zheng Saisai at the Guangzhou Open back in September 2013.

Victory also came on the back of confirmation that Robson will be included in the first round of the US Open due to her protected status.

Players can enter up to eight tournaments based on their old ranking before injury, and organisers at Flushing Meadows confirmed that Robson – who has a protected ranking of 58 – is one of four players to be allocated a place in the main draw on that basis. The final major of the year begins on August 31 in New York.

Of more pressing concern for the Brit will be her second round match-up against American Ellie Halbauer, with Robson looking to get on a roll and reach the quarter-finals of the ITF event.

Before injury, Robson's last tournament was the 2014 Australian Open, losing to Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets. She made her long-awaited comeback at Eastbourne in June, going down in straight sets to Daria Gavrilova before suffering the same fate against Evgeniya Rodina at Wimbledon.

A run on the hard courts in North America could build confidence before the trip to the Big Apple next month though, and there is the possibility of an all-British final in Canada at the end of the week with Johanna Konta also winning her first round match. The 24 year old is the tournament's number one seed.