Grainger completes Greenwich-Cleveland Sweep

Alison Waters won the first but then Natalie Grainger came to the fore. Photo: ©2009 Ham Biggar

Natalie Grainger secured a hat-trick of Burning River Classic titles tonight in Cleveland in front of a capacity crowd at the Cleveland Racquet Club. The event which first ran in 2007 has known no other winner than Grainger who put on a masterful display against the world number six.

It was by no means a one sided affair though as Alison made her intent for the crown felt in the first game, taking it 11-9 after an electric display of squash flawed by a very rare error. Natalie is known to have a watch fetish and with a Breitling watch at stake for the winner, Alison must have annoyed the two-time defending champ as she came out in the second game looking like a player on a mission.

It was not through Alison’s careless play that Natalie romped to a 10-0 lead, more so an aggressive accuracy that the Cleveland crowd had yet to experience. The third game was more of the same as Natalie produce a seven point run which ended any hopes the Londoner had of taking a lead for a second time. Alison started the fourth in good spirits leading 3-1 after what may have been the only tin on a backhand volley drop that Natalie hit all night. That was to be the last of the charity from Natalie though as she continued to take the ball earlier than we had seen all week, and with accuracy that maybe only one other on the ladies tour could match. With another run of eight straight points the challenge from Alison was all but finished but Natalie was made to win every last point by the valiant English player.

Natalie Grainger came to the fore. Photo: ©2009 Ham Biggar

This is by far the toughest competition Natalie has experienced in the third annual running of the event but it seemed to make no difference as she increased the level of her play accordingly, chasing down balls the Cleveland crowd had not seen her chase down before. Alison is the only the second player in twelve attempts to take a game off Natalie here in Cleveland and she is yet to be stretched the distance. With the exception of one match against Jaclyn Hawkes, Nicol David is the only player to have defeated Natalie in the past 12 months and if that match was to occur at the Cleveland Racquet Club who knows what the outcome might be?

RESULTS:               WISPA National City Burning River Open, Cleveland, OH, USA    [view Draw/results]

[2] Natalie Grainger (USA)    beat   [4] Alison Waters (ENG)   9-11, 11-1, 11-6, 11-4

 

 

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