Natalie Grinham

Natalie Grinham
Natalie Grinham
Full name	Natalie Marie Grinham[1]
Country	Netherlands  Australia (until February, 2008)
Residence	Almere, Netherlands
Born	March 16, 1978 (1978-03-16) (age 33) Toowoomba, Australia
Height	1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Turned Pro	1995
Plays	Right Handed
Coached by	Allistair McCaw
Racquet used	Head
Women's singles
Highest ranking	No. 2 (February, 2007)
Current ranking	No. 10 (November, 2011)
Medal record Competitor for  Australia Squash Commonwealth Games Gold 2006 Melbourne Women's Singles Gold 2006 Melbourne Women's Doubles Gold 2006 Melbourne Mixed Doubles Bronze 2002 Manchester Women's Doubles Competitor for  Netherlands World Games Silver 2009 Kaohsiung Individual
Last updated on: January 6, 2010.

Natalie Marie Grinham (born 16 March 1978 in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia) is a professional squash player. During her career, she has won three Commonwealth Games Gold Medals, and finished runner-up at both the World Open and the British Open. She reached the World No. 2 ranking in 2007. She represented Australia in international squash competitions up to 2006. She is married to the Dutch squash player Tommy Berden, and took up Dutch citizenship in February 2008. Natalie's older sister Rachael Grinham is also one of the world's leading professional squash players.

Natalie's most significant tournament victory to date came at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, where she represented Australia. She defeated World No. 1 Nicol David in the semi-finals, before going on to beat her sister Rachael in the women's singles final 2–9, 9–6, 9–1, 9–6 to claim the Gold Medal. She then went on to claim two more Gold Medals in the doubles competitions – partnering Rachael in the women's doubles, and Joe Kneipp in the mixed doubles. Natalie and Rachael had previously won a women's doubles Bronze Medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The sisters also won the women's doubles title at the 2004 World Doubles Squash Championships.

Natalie has finished runner-up at the World Open three times. In 2004 she lost in the final to Vanessa Atkinson 9–1, 9–1, 9–5; in 2006 she lost to Nicol David 1–9, 9–7, 3–9, 9–5, 9–2; and in 2007 she lost to sister Rachael 9–4, 10–8, 9–2. She was runner-up at the British Open in 2005, losing in the final to Nicol David 9–6, 9–7, 9–6.

Natalie is married to the Dutch squash player Tommy Berden and has lived in the Netherlands since 1999. She became a Dutch citizen in February 2008. She last represented Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Under the World Squash Federation's current rules, players must wait for three years before becoming eligible to represent a different country. Accordingly she has represented the Netherlands from 2009 onwards.^[2]

Natalie is expecting her first child in months to come and is determined to make a comeback after giving birth.^[3]

Rivalries

Natalie Grinham in action

Natalie vs. Nicol David

Main article: Nicol–Natalie Grinham rivalry

Natalie Grinham and Nicol David have a long rivalry history. They have met 30 times during their careers, with Nicol leading their overall head-to-head series 23–7. Nicol is Natalie's most frequent opponent on tour. 16 of their matches have been in tournament finals, including two in the World Open tournament. The World Open 2006 final between Natalie and Nicol is dubbed to be one of the greatest in the Women's World Open history.^[4]

See also

• Official Women's Squash World Ranking

References

1. ^ "Australian women biographical entry". Womenaustralia.info. http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE2665b.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-24. 
2. ^ Natalie goes Dutch
3. ^ "Expectant Grinham Withdraws From Qatar". Squash Info. November 16, 2009. http://www.squashinfo.com/news/3482-expectant-grinham-withdraws-from-qatar. Retrieved March 23, 2010. 
4. ^ "Nicol David fights to the death for her second World Open title". Squashtalk.com. http://squashtalk.com/html/news/nov06/news06-11-742.htm. Retrieved March 14, 2010. 

External links

• Natalie Grinham profile on the WISPA
• Natalie Grinham profile on SquashInfo

Persondata
Name	Grinham, Natalie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1978-03-16
Place of birth	Toowoomba, Australia
Date of death
Place of death