Less than a year after the birth of her first child, Dutch squash star Natalie Grinham gave the clearest signal that she is back to her best when she won the Women's Atwater Cup in Canada, upsetting third seed Joelle King in the final of the WISPA World Tour Silver 20 event in its third year at Club Atwater in Montreal.
Unseeded, the former world No2 ousted the fourth seed, then the No2 seed, before coming up against New Zealander King in the climax of only her seventh Tour event since the birth of her son Kieran last May.
Grinham, currently ranked 32 in the world, played flawless squash to overcome world No14 King 11-6, 11-7, 14-12 to claim the 15th Tour title of her career - but her first since winning the New Zealand Open in August 2009.
"I'm playing really well and looking forward to Caymans," said the new Atwater Club champion, who next competes in this week's Cedrus Investments Cayman Islands Open. "I'm glad Joelle's out of the qualifying as we could have played each other again tomorrow.
"I'm just looking to keep improving this year building up for the World Open in September."
King, a double medallist in last year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi, added: "I came up against a better player today but I'm happy with my game and looking forward to the next three weeks.
"I feel I am heading in the right direction and I'm excited about the next two events."
RESULTS: Atwater Cup, Montreal, Canada
Final:
Natalie Grinham (NED) bt [3] Joelle King (NZL) 11-6, 11-7, 14-12