Serena Williams at No. 1 despite time off

Serena Williams is briefly back at No. 1 in the WTA rankings, despite not playing a match since January. She also plans to take the rest of 2017 off because she is expecting a baby. Thanks to a calendar quirk, Williams moved up one spot Monday from No. 2, swapping places with Angelique Kerber.

The return to No. 1 , which gives the 35-year-old American her 317th week there, comes less than a week after Williams let the world know via Snapchat that she is pregnant. The baby is due in the fall, and spokeswoman Kelly Bush Novak says

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Morgan Rielly and his Maple Leafs teammates knew something no one else did when they huddled together for dinner before the start of the 2016-17 season.

“We knew that we were going to be better than everyone thought and I think the coaches knew that (too),” said Rielly. “And we made a conscious effort not to let anybody else know what our expectations were for one another, because they were high and because we didn’t want people to know that and to create their own opinions.”

The Leafs ultimately made a 26-point jump in the NHL standings from last season’s bottom finish, unexpectedly made the playoffs and nearly pushed Presidents’ Trophywinning Washington to seven games in the first round. Their season ended Sunday night in a close series with the Capitals which saw all six games decided by a goal - five of the six ending in extra time.

Toronto shattered expectations all season long, just not among the players.

Sneaky belief started with a rookie class that looked readymade for the NHL at training camp - even before that in the case of Auston Matthews, who