Annabel_Croft

Annabel Croft

Annabel Croft (born 12 July 1966 in Farnborough, England) is a former tennis player and current television presenter. Her tennis career never really took off after she won Junior Wimbledon in 1984.

Since retiring from tennis, she has 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.

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. In December 1985, she achieved a world ranking of 21. She played for Great Britain in the Fed Cup in 1985 and 1986, and in the Wightman Cup from 1983 to 1986.

After tennis

Annabel retired from professional tennis at the age of twenty-one, tired of the relentless travel and keen to start a family. 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 ITV1, Interceptor.

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

In 2003 she was involved in coverage of Wimbledon Tennis Championship for the BBC, Radio 5 Live and GMTV. She has appeared on UK lifestyle TV shows such as The Wright Stuff, The Entertainment Show, GMTV, Out and About and This Morning.

She has successfully completed the New York Marathon.

Personal life

Croft is married to Mel Coleman, a former international yachtsman and current investment banker. The couple live in Coombe, a prestigious area in the Kingston borough of London located near Wimbledon with their three children, Amber, 13, Charlie, 12, and Lily, 9.

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