Annabel Croft

Annabel Nicola Croft (born 12 July 1966) is a former professional British No. 1 female 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.

Annabel Croft
Annabel Croft in 2011
Full nameAnnabel Nicola Croft
Country (sports) Great Britain
ResidenceKingston upon Thames[1]
Born (1966-07-12) 12 July 1966
Farnborough, Kent, England
Retired1988
Prize money$201,254
Singles
Career record49–68
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 24 (31 December 1985)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open2R (1984, 1985)
French Open2R (1986)
Wimbledon3R (1984)
US Open3R (1986)
Doubles
Career record13–36
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 126 (21 December 1986)

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.

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

Biography

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.[2] In December 1985, she achieved a world ranking of 24.[1] She played for Great Britain in the Fed Cup in 1985 and 1986, and in the Wightman Cup from 1983 to 1986.[1]

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 keen to start a family. Reflecting on her retirement in 2011, she noted that the tour was stressful as it was like "having an argument every day and preparing for another one tomorrow". Immediately after her retirement, Annabel 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.[3]

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.[1]

In June 2009, Annabel 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.[4] 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.

In May 2012, Croft gave a speech at the Oxford Union in which, after talking about her tennis and media presenter careers, she spoke at length of her 3-day experience of living on the streets and the friendship she had formed with James during that time.

She is a presenter for Sky Sports, including the 2012 US Open. She has also presented Game, Set & Mats on Eurosport during Grand Slam 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.[5]

Personal life

Croft is married to Mel Coleman, a former international yachtsman and current investment banker. The couple live in Coombe, near Wimbledon, in the London borough of Kingston, with their three children.[6] She is a member of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

Croft is active in raising awareness of child obesity, and is a supporter of the children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.[7]

WTA Tour finals

Singles: 1 (1–0)
Finals by category
Grand Slam Titles (0–0)
WTA Championships (0–0)
Titles by surface
Hard (1/0)
Clay (0/0)
Grass (0/0)
Carpet (0/0)
Result Date Category Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Winner 22 April 1985 Virginia Slims
$75,000		 Virginia Slims of San Diego, United States Hard Wendy Turnbull 6–0, 7–6(7–5)

Performance timelines

Singles
Tournament1982198319841985198619871988W–LSR
Grand Slam Tournaments
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[8] 138[9] 82[10] 24[11] 82[12] 141[13] 265[14]

Doubles
Tournament1984198519861987W–LSR
Grand Slam Tournaments
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[15] 62[16] 126[17] 292[18]

Mixed doubles
Tournament19831984198519861987W–LSR
Grand Slam Tournaments
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

Fed Cup
1985 Federation Cup Main Draw
DateVenueSurfaceRoundOpponentsFinal match scoreMatchOpponentRubber 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)
gollark: *Do* we actually know about the performance?
gollark: I don't think AR actually has any way to do that.
gollark: The GC ones being essentially fungible means you can run automated space shipping routes.
gollark: MËh.
gollark: GC allows extracting oxygen from them, yes, I don't know if AR does.

References
  1. "Annabel Croft" (PDF). Celebrity Tennis. 30 January 2005. Archived from the original (pdf) on 12 September 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  2. Flatman, Barry (12 June 2005). "The top 10 great white hopes of British tennis". The Sunday Times. London: Times Newspapers. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  3. "Interceptor - Behind the Scenes - Annabel Croft".
  4. BBC page about Famous, Rich and Homeless
  5. "Knickers to period problems: Carol Smillie on the range of underwear for girls she launched with friend Annabel Croft". dailyrecord. 9 November 2014.
  6. "Fame and fortune: Annabel Croft". The Telegraph. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  7. "Annabel Croft Launches New Challenge Event for CLIC Sargent". CLIC Sargent. 12 May 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  8. "1982 Year-end singles rankings" (PDF).
  9. "1983 Year-end singles rankings" (PDF).
  10. "1984 Year-end singles rankings" (PDF).
  11. "1985 Year-end singles rankings" (PDF).
  12. "1986 Year-end singles rankings" (PDF).
  13. "1987 Year-end singles rankings" (PDF).
  14. "1988 Year-end singles rankings" (PDF).
  15. "1984 Year-end doubles rankings" (PDF).
  16. "1985 Year-end doubles rankings" (PDF).
  17. "1986 Year-end doubles rankings" (PDF).
  18. "1987 Year-end doubles rankings" (PDF).
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