Emotional ties: Annabel Croft on period costumes and her own tennis academy 

Annabel Croft

I’ve had this tennis ball hopper for over 30 years. I’d take my children Amber, Charlie and Lily [now 24, 22 and 20] out to hit balls every day after school. They’re now all at the perfect level to enjoy the game socially. Teaching them inspired me to set up my own tennis academy with my husband Mel [Coleman] ten years ago.

My beaten-up Globe-Trotter suitcase has accompanied me around the world, first when I travelled the tennis circuit as a player and, more recently, as a TV presenter for Sky Sports and Eurosport.

I used to stare at this funny old book, A History of Fashion. I was obsessed with period costumes as a child, so my mum had this crinoline dress copied for me as a Christmas present. I have no interest in fashion now but my daughter Amber has a real flair for it.

Mel and I went on our honeymoon to Mauritius and the Seychelles in 1993 and brought this coco de mer nut home with us. They’re meant to look like a woman’s body, and this one really does! It’s like nature having a laugh. It now lives in our sitting room.

I started playing tennis when I was nine and tournaments aged 11. I’d make notes in my diary about my opponent, such as ‘her serve was very hard’, and what drills I did. I was so disciplined and had such a vision that I had to be a tennis player.

This photo is of me being handed the Junior Wimbledon trophy by the Duchess of Kent when I won it in 1984. I was about to turn 18. The cup is still in the trophy cabinet at the All England Club, where I am privileged enough to be a member.

I’m a real advocate of homeopathic remedies and have this kit in every room. I believe they have transformed my health. They help with everything from joint issues to insect bites and stings, and have enabled us, as a family, largely to avoid antibiotics.

This clay mould of my three children’s hands was done by Andy Murray’s mother-in-law, Leonore Sears. She’s an amazing artist, which is where Kim [his wife] gets her talents from. The children were four, two and a half and five months old at the time – such lovely ages to catch them at.