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 The Hague.
Atkinson biggest win came in 2004 when she won the World Open title 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.
Famous quotes containing the words vanessa and/or atkinson:
“Vanessa wanted to be a ballerina. Dad had such hopes for her.... Corin was the academically brilliant one, and a fencer of Olympic standard. Everything was expected of them, and they fulfilled all expectations. But I was the one of whom nothing was expected. I remember a game the three of us played. Vanessa was the President of the United States, Corin was the British Prime Minister—and I was the royal dog.”
—Lynn Redgrave (b. 1943)
“The virtue of the camera is not the power it has to transform the photographer into an artist, but the impulse it gives him to keep on looking.”
—Brooks Atkinson (1894–1984)