Annabel Croft

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. After Famous, Rich and Homeless Croft did a follow-on Radio 5 Live radio show which was broadcast on 24 and 25 December 2009, entitled James: My Alcoholic Friend, where she tries to track down the rough sleeper with whom she had spent a night on the streets.

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 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 CLIC Sargent.

WTA career finals

Grand Slam performance timelines

Singles

Doubles

Mixed doubles

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, 6–7, 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	Suonpaa/Thorén	6–0, 6–1 (W)
			QF	Indonesia	3–0	Singles	Suzanna Anggarkusuma	6–2, 2–6, 6–2 (W)
						Doubles	Anggarkusuma/Basuki	6–2, 4–6, 6–2 (W)
			SF	Hungary	3–0	Singles	Csilla Cserepy	6–4, 6–2 (W)
						Doubles	Cserepy/Szikszay	2–1, ret. (W)
			W	Soviet Union	2–1	Singles	Larisa Savchenko	6–4, 6–0 (W)
						Doubles	Egorova/Parkhomenko	2–6, 1–6 (L)