Rachael Romps To Seattle Success - And Retains World No1 Title

Australia's top seed Rachael Grinham played one of the best games of her life when she crushed second seed Vanessa Atkinson in the final of the Women's PMI Seattle Open Championship to clinch the Silver 25 WISPA World Tour title in the USA and retain her position as the world's number one squash player.

After failing to fulfil her top-seeded status in the last two events she played - the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur and World Games in Germany - Grinham was determined to re-establish her dominance in the women's game. The climax at the Pro Sports Club in Bellevue had extra significance - as the winner would also be the next world number one!

The 28-year-old Queenslander came out attacking - looking sharp, aggressive and totally focussed. Grinham raced to a 7-1 lead over the world champion from the Netherlands - and never looked back.

In the second game, the Cairo-based Australian kept up her attack and soon led 5-0 in a single hand. Atkinson then seemed to settle down and grabbed a couple of points. But Rachael fought back and quickly took the game to open up a 2/0 lead.

While Grinham showed no signs of fatigue from her marathon semi-final match against England's Tania Bailey, her opponent seemed to be tiring from the Australian's onslaught. Grinham was soon 8-0 ahead, holding match-ball.

Urged on by the crowd, Atkinson mounted a comeback and came back to 4-8 in one hand.

But it was not enough: Grinham was in flawless form and, on her second match ball, the favourite took the maiden Pacific Market International title in 40 minutes by a 9-2 9-2 9-4 scoreline.

The triumph marks Grinham's third WISPA title of the year, and the 20th of her career.

Final:
[1] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [2] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) 9-2, 9-2, 9-4 (40m)