Following her victory at the season-ending WTA Championships in 1976 - known at the time as the Virginia Slims Championships - her sixth tournament victory of the year, Goolagong Cawley continued to play on the WTA tour until 1983, but never again played a full season.
Goolagong Cawley realized during the 1976 US Open final that she was pregnant and did not play again on the regular tour until the late summer of 1977, continuing through to Wimbledon 1978.