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Annabel Croft
Annabel croft head.jpg
Annabel Croft in 2011
Full name Annabel Nicola Croft
Country (sports) United Kingdom Great Britain
Residence Kingston upon Thames
Born (1966-07-12) 12 July 1966 (age 58)
Farnborough, Kent, England
Retired 1988
Prize money $201,254
Singles
Career record 49–68
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 24 (31 December 1985)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 2R (1984, 1985)
French Open 2R (1986)
Wimbledon 3R (1984)
US Open 3R (1986)
Doubles
Career record 13–36
Career titles 0
Highest ranking No. 126 (21 December 1986)

Annabel Nicola Croft (born 12 July 1966) is a British former professional tennis player and current radio and television presenter. As a tennis player she won the WTA Tour event Virginia Slims of San Diego and represented Great Britain in the Fed Cup and the Wightman Cup.

After retiring from tennis, she turned to television presenting, with such shows as Treasure Hunt and Interceptor. In 2005, she appeared in the ITV programme Celebrity Wrestling and went on to win it. In 2023, Croft was announced as one of the contestants taking part in that year's BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.

Most recently she has been a presenter and pundit for Eurosport, Sky Sports and the BBC.

Tennis career

Croft was born in Farnborough, Kent. After winning the Wimbledon and Australian Open girls' tournaments in 1984, she won the Virginia Slims of San Diego tournament in 1985, beating Wendy Turnbull in the final in straight sets. In December 1985, she achieved a world ranking of 24. She played for Great Britain in the Fed Cup in 1985 and 1986, and in the Wightman Cup from 1983 to 1986. She continued to play through February 1988, but failed to reach another final.

After tennis

Despite her potential and being amongst the world's top 25 players, Croft retired from professional tennis at the age of only twenty-one, tired of the relentless travel and feeling she no longer enjoyed playing. Immediately after her retirement, Croft became the new face of Channel 4's prime time show Treasure Hunt, following Anneka Rice's successful run. This was followed by her own show on ITV, Interceptor.

In 1990, Croft released her own fitness video entitled Annabel Croft's Shape Tape.

She has been involved in coverage of Wimbledon Tennis Championship for the BBC, Radio 5 Live and GMTV, and has also worked for Sky Sports, and Eurosport as a tennis pundit. She has appeared on UK lifestyle TV shows such as The Wright Stuff, The Entertainment Show, GMTV, Out and About and This Morning.

In June 2009, Croft was one of five volunteers who took part in a BBC series of two programmes Famous, Rich and Homeless about living penniless on the streets of London.

She was a presenter for Sky Sports, including the 2012 US Open. She also jointly presented Game, Set & Mats on Eurosport in 2015, along with former tennis player Mats Wilander, during Grand Slam tournament weeks of tennis.

In November 2011, Croft - a presenter on Eurosport - hosted the AIB Media Excellence Awards, the international competition for journalism and factual production.

In October 2012, Croft launched a company called DiaryDoll with TV presenter Carol Smillie, retailing waterproof pants for periods, post-maternity and pelvic-floor weakness, with an aim to be pretty, feminine, breathable and washproof whilst reducing stigma of the topic of women's pelvic health.

In 2021, she was the winner of the IC of GB Sportsmanship Award, given to a British tennis player for admirable attitude as a sportsman or sportswoman during their career. Former winners include Sue Barker (2019), Virginia Wade (2017), Greg Rusedski (2011), Tim Henman (1999), and Jeremy Bates (1995).

In August 2023, Croft was announced as a contestant on the twenty-first series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Personal life

Croft was married to Mel Coleman, a former international America's Cup and Admiral's Cup yachtsman. The couple lived in Coombe, near Wimbledon, in the London borough of Kingston, with their three children, two daughters named Amber Rose and Lily and a son, Charlie. In 2009, jointly, they started the Annabel Croft Tennis Academy at the National Tennis Centre. After a short illness with cancer, Coleman died on 25 May 2023.

Croft has been active in raising awareness of child obesity, and is a supporter of the children's cancer charity Young Lives vs Cancer (formally known as CLIC Sargent).

WTA career finals

Result Date Tier Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Win 22 April 1985 Virginia Slims
75,000		 Virginia Slims of San Diego, United States Hard Australia Turnbull, WendyWendy Turnbull 6–0, 7–6(7–5)

Grand Slam performance timelines

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# A NH
(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Singles

Tournament 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 W–L SR
Australian Open Q1 Q2 1R 1R NH A 1R 0–3 0 / 3
French Open A Q1 1R 1R 2R 1R A 1–4 0 / 4
Wimbledon 1R 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R A 3–6 0 / 6
US Open Q2 1R 1R 2R 3R 2R A 4–5 0 / 5
Win–loss 0–1 0–2 2–4 1–4 3–3 2–3 0–1 8–18 0 / 18
Year-end ranking 161 138 82 24 82 141 265

Doubles

Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 W–L SR
Australian Open 1R 2R NH A 0–3 0 / 3
French Open 2R 1R 1R 1R 1–4 0 / 4
Wimbledon A 1R 1R 1R 3–6 0 / 6
US Open 1R 1R 1R A 4–5 0 / 5
Win–loss 0–1 0–2 2–4 1–4 8–18 0 / 18
Year-end ranking 114 62 126 292

Mixed doubles

Tournament 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 W–L SR
Australian Open A NH A 0–0 0 / 0
French Open A 1R A 1R A 1–4 0 / 4
Wimbledon 1R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3–6 0 / 6
US Open 1R 1R A 4–5 0 / 5
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–4 1–4 8–18 0 / 18

National team participation

Fed Cup

1985 Federation Cup Main Draw
Date Venue Surface Round Opponents Final match score Match Opponent Rubber score
6–14 Oct
1985		 Nagoya Hard R1  West Germany 3–0 Singles Myriam Schropp 6–3, 6–1 (W)
R2  Japan 2–1 Singles Etsuko Inoue 7–6(9–7), 6–7(4–7), 6–3 (W)
QF  Bulgaria 1–2 Singles Manuela Maleeva 2–6, 2–6 (L)
1986 Federation Cup Consolation rounds
20–27 Jul
1986		 Prague Clay R1 BYE
R2  Finland 3–0 Singles Petra Thorén 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 (W)
Doubles(with Anne Hobbs) Suonpaa/Thorén 6–0, 6–1 (W)
QF  Indonesia 3–0 Singles Suzanna Anggarkusuma 6–2, 2–6, 6–2 (W)
Doubles(with Anne Hobbs) Anggarkusuma/Basuki 6–2, 4–6, 6–2 (W)
SF  Hungary 3–0 Singles Csilla Cserepy 6–4, 6–2 (W)
Doubles(with Anne Hobbs) Cserepy/Szikszay 2–1, ret. (W)
W  Soviet Union 2–1 Singles Larisa Savchenko 6–4, 6–0 (W)
Doubles(with Anne Hobbs) Egorova/Parkhomenko 2–6, 1–6 (L)
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