Annabel Croft

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. 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

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.