Robson is closing in on the top 200 in the world rankings

Britain's Laura Robson came through qualifying for a WTA event for the second time in three weeks to reach the first round of the HP Open in Osaka.

The 16-year-old beat Colombian Catalina Castaño 6-3 6-3 in the third and final qualifying round.

She will play 40-year-old Japanese player Kimiko Date Krumm, the sixth seed, in the first round on Tuesday.

Fellow Brit Anne Keothavong, meanwhile, beat Jarmila Groth 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in round one of the WTA event in Linz.

The 27-year-old Londoner showed admirable strength and resolve to battle back from a set down and then hold her nerve in the crucial final-set tie-break against her Australian opponent, ranked 41st in the world.

She next faces sixth seed Andrea Petkovic, who beat fellow German Angelique Kerber 6-3 6-4.

Robson, ranked 212 in the world, also came through qualifying for the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last month.

But last week she was forced to retire from her second-round match at the Japan Open, an ITF event, suffering from dehydration.

Top seeds Samantha Stosur and Marion Bartoli both progressed to the second round of the HP Open on Monday with few problems.

Australian Stosur eased past Japan's Sachie Ishizu 6-0 6-3, while Bartoli beat fellow Frenchwoman Julie Coin 6-2 6-1.

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