On April 26, 1976, Evonne Goolagong reached the top of the WTA rankings after winning the Virginia Slims Championships, the tournament now called the WTA Finals. That milestone went unrecognized at the time and remained absent from official lists until 2007, when missing paper records were uncovered in the WTA’s rankings archive.

The rankings in 1976 were calculated every two weeks. A review of the recovered documents showed Goolagong had overtaken Chris Evert for the No. 1 position for two weeks from April 26 to May 9, 1976. Although she had been recorded later as the 16th player ever announced as WTA No. 1, the corrected history establishes she was actually the second woman to hold the top spot, after Evert.

“I’m very proud of the achievement,” Goolagong told the Associated Press in 2007. “I was on a roll for that stretch in 1976. It was a great surprise to hear after all these years.” The WTA presented her with a No. 1 trophy in 2007, 31 years after the ranking change and 24 years after her retirement from the tour.

The ranking system was still new then, having been introduced five months earlier in November 1975. “Unfortunately our record-keeping wasn’t perfect in those early days of women’s tennis and our ranking system was viewed as a means of just accepting tournament entries,” then-WTA CEO Larry Scott said at the time. “It wasn’t until the early 1980s that the media and players started to pay attention to the changes in the rankings during the year as opposed to only the end-of-season rankings.”

The corrected entry adds to Goolagong’s distinguished resume: seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four Australian Opens (1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977), Roland Garros in 1971, and Wimbledon in 1971 and 1980. She won her final two majors—the December 1977 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1980—as a mom, one of only three women in the Open Era to do so alongside Margaret Court and Kim Clijsters, and the only mother to win Wimbledon in that era.

Ons Jabeur and her husband, Karim, announced the birth of their first child this week, sharing the news on Instagram and offering a brief personal message. “A tiny miracle, a lifetime of love 🤍” Jabeur wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. “Welcoming our baby boy, Elyan Kammoun 20/04/2026 ♾️ ”

Jabeur first revealed her pregnancy last November after stepping away from the tour following her retirement in the first round of Wimbledon in July. At the time she wrote, “Took a little break to reset and recharge… Turns out, we’ve been planning the cutest comeback ever,” Jabeur wrote at the time . “The court will have to wait a little longer, because soon we’ll be welcoming our tiniest teammate.”

Messages of congratulations appeared on social media from fellow players and figures in the sport, including comments from Paula Badosa, Belinda Bencic and Billie Jean King. “Can’t wait to meet him,” wrote Badosa.

Throughout her maternity leave the three-time Grand Slam finalist has remained connected to tennis. She launched a YouTube series that included an interview with fellow former No. 2 Badosa and has spoken publicly about her intentions to return to competition. In a March interview with Vogue Arabia she discussed hopes for a comeback and plans to “compete for a couple more years,” while also noting the need for patience with her recovery and transition to motherhood.

“I want to give myself the time to see how my body will react,” Jabeur told Christine van Deemter in an interview for Arab Mother’s Day . She spoke about her hopes for her son’s personality: “I want him to be creative, to make jokes,” she added of her hopes for her son. “Most important is that he’s a good person and makes a change in the world.”

The announcement closes a chapter of anticipation that began last fall and sets the stage for Jabeur to consider the timing and manner of her return to the tour in 2026.

Elena Rybakina defeated Karolina Muchova to claim the Stuttgart crown, 7-5, 6-1, and Marta Kostyuk beat Veronika Podrez for the Rouen title, 6-3, 6-4. Those finals completed another chapter in an unusual run on the women’s tour: top seeds have won the last seven WTA events in a row.

The run began in early March with Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells and has continued through seven tournaments and seven weeks. Top seeds are 35-0 over the last seven weeks at WTA events: Sabalenka 6-0 at Indian Wells and 6-0 in Miami; Pegula 5-0 in Charleston; Bouzkova 5-0 in Bogota; Andreeva 4-0 in Linz; Rybakina 4-0 in Stuttgart; and Kostyuk 5-0 in Rouen.

Those 35 consecutive wins did not all come without drama. In the first tournament of the streak, Indian Wells, Sabalenka faced a match point against Rybakina down 6-5 in the third-set tie-break in the final before sneaking out the win, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6). In Stuttgart, Rybakina saved two match points in the third set, one down 5-4 and another down 6-5 in the breaker, to survive Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinals, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6).

There were also a string of three-set victories elsewhere, including several from Pegula in Charleston before she closed out that event in straight sets. At each tournament the top seed has reached the finish line, producing an unbroken run of title-clinching performances by No. 1 seeds across the most recent slate of WTA events.

CHAMPIONS AT THE LAST SEVEN WTA EVENTS: