Annabel Croft

Annabel Croft

Annabel Croft in 2011
Full name Annabel Croft
Country (sports) United Kingdom Great Britain
Residence Kingston upon Thames[1]
Born (1966-07-12) 12 July 1966
Farnborough, Bromley, London, England
Retired 1988
Prize money $201,254
Singles
Career record 49–68
Career titles 1
Highest ranking No. 21 (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 Croft (born 12 July 1966 in Farnborough, Bromley, London) 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.

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, and Sky Sports.

Biography

Tennis career

After winning the Wimbledon and Australian Open girls' tournaments in 1984, Croft 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 21.[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 very early at the age of only twenty-one, tired of the relentless travel and keen to start a family. Reflecting on her early 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.

She is a presenter for Sky Sports including the 2012 US Open. She also presents Game, Set & Mats on Eurosport during Grand Slam weeks of tennis.

She has successfully completed the New York Marathon.

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.

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]

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 Australia Turnbull, WendyWendy Turnbull 6–0, 7–6(7–5)

Performance timelines

Singles

Tournament 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 W–L SR
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

Tournament 1984 1985 1986 1987 W–L SR
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

Tournament 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 W–L SR
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
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 Thoren 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 (W)
Doubles(with Anne Hobbs) Suonpaa/Thoren 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)

References

External links

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