Evonne Goolagong gets No. 1 ranking, 30 years late

Sunrise Beach: Evonne Goolagong figures it was a case of better late than never.

The Australian tennis star was told by the WTA Tour that she should have been top-ranked for a two-week period in 1976.

That was a stretch in which she was in the middle of winning six tournaments, including the Australian Open and the season-ending Virginia Slims Championship.

But when some tournament records were transferred to a computer in 1976, all of Goolagong's points were not entered and she never received the top ranking, the WTA said.

The WTA has amended its records, making Goolagong one of 16 No. 1 players since the introduction of tour computer rankings in 1975.

"Obviously it was the best year that I had ever played," Goolagong said on Friday. "I was playing very consistently ... at a stage where I felt I could beat anyone."

Two weeks ago, the 56-year-old Goolagong received a crystal trophy from the WTA that is now displayed in the living room of her oceanside home.

"I'm very proud of the achievement," Goolagong said. "It's very satisfying, nice to be finally recognised. It's never too late to make it official."

A recent search of the rankings archive in St. Petersburg found several paper records were missing between April and July 1976.

Rankings were calculated twice weekly until 1990 - they are done weekly now - and it was discovered Goolagong overtook Chris Evert by 0.8 points after the Aussie's victory in the Virginia Slims in Los Angeles in late April 1976.

Evert, under the revised calculations, regained the top ranking May 10.

"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," WTA Tour chief executive and chairman Larry Scott said.

"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."

Goolagong reached the finals of 16 of 24 Grand Slam singles tournaments from 1971 to 1976, winning five of them.

She won Wimbledon titles nine years apart - in 1971 and 1980 - to equal Bill Tilden's mark for having the longest gaps between championships at the All-England Club. She has seven Grand Slam singles titles overall.

Goolagong retired in 1985 and lived in the United States - at Hilton Head, South Carolina and Naples, Florida - until moving back to Australia in 1992.

Now, Goolagong is frequently seen power walking in the streets around her Sunrise Beach home north of Brisbane.

She and husband Roger Cawley organize tennis camps for Aboriginal youths. During next month's Australian Open, 15 young athletes from across Australia will be flown in for a camp outside Melbourne.