BBC tennis pundit Annabel Croft has opened up on adjusting to life without her partner Mel Coleman, who passed away two years ago following a battle with cancer. The ex-British No 1 has since taken part in Strictly Come Dancing and focused on her punditry work after 'simplifying' her life.

Croft met Mel in 1987 and they tied the knot just five years later, going on to have three children together - Amber, 31, Charlie, 29, and Lily, 27. She is now preparing to front the BBC's coverage of Wimbledon, which gets underway on Monday.

The former Wimbledon junior winner has now opened up on how she has been forced to adjust to life without Mel, who passed at the age of 60, and the simple pleasures she is now enjoying.

Speaking to The Sun, the 58-year-old explained: "I've lived my whole adult life with Mel, and now it's a weird thing to be doing [life] on my own.

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"I just walk into an empty house, so I try to trick my brain into thinking about when Mel was out at a work function and I'd come into the house on my own. Only, every night it is like this. Thankfully, I'm busy - that's always been the same and that's helpful."

Croft went on to speak about how living alone has taken her back to her days of coming through the tennis ranks as a teenager. She continued: "It's taken me back to living on my own before Mel came into my life, as that 15-year-old playing at Wimbledon for the first time, travelling the world on planes and across America on Greyhound buses. I've gone full circle to that person, because I've had to.

"The house has been my life for 25 years. Everything about it is Mel, because he built it. We've had amazing memories here that are impossible to forget, but I'm ready to go. What gives me pleasure is going for a morning walk in the park, running with my friends, having a coffee, a meal out and being with my family.

"I've realised I don't need much anymore. I don't want overheads, maintenance, a garden to look after and pay for - anything that is excess to what I need."

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