Dutch squash player

Last updated: 3 December 2019.

Vanessa Louise Atkinson (born 10 March 1976 in Newcastle, England) is a former professional squash player from the Netherlands, who won the World Open in 2004 and reached the World No. 1 ranking in December 2005.

Atkinson was born in England, but her family moved to the Netherlands when she was still a child. She began playing squash as a youngster in Dordrecht. She now resides in Harrogate, Yorkshire, with her partner James Willstrop, himself a professional squash player.

Atkinson's biggest win came in 2004 when she won the World Open *le in Kuala Lumpur by defeating fellow compatriote Natalie Grinham (at that time still representing Australia) with a score of 9–1, 9–1, 9–5 in the final. Atkinson also has won major tournaments in Qatar, New York, Monte Carlo, Malaysia and Ireland.

Atkinson retired from professional play in May 2011.

Contents

• 1 World Open
  • 1.1 Finals: 1 (1 *le, 0 runner-up)
• 2 Major World Series final appearances
  • 2.1 Qatar Cl*ic: 2 finals (2 *les, 0 runner-up)
  • 2.2 Malaysian Open: 2 finals (1 *le, 1 runner-up)
• 3 See also
• 4 References
• 5 External links

World Open

Finals: 1 (1 *le, 0 runner-up)

Major World Series final appearances

Qatar Cl*ic: 2 finals (2 *les, 0 runner-up)

Malaysian Open: 2 finals (1 *le, 1 runner-up)

See also

• Official Women's Squash World Ranking
• List of WISPA number 1 ranked players
• WISPA Awards

References

External links

• Vanessa Atkinson at WISPA (archived)
• Vanessa Atkinson at Squash Info
• Interview at Squashtalk.com - June 1999