1996 WTA Tour
The WTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). The 1996 WTA Tour included the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events. ITF tournaments are not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.
|  Steffi Graf ended the year as number 1 for the seventh time | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | January 1, 1996 – November 25, 1996 | 
| Edition | 26th | 
| Tournaments | 51 | 
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) WTA Championships Summer Olympics WTA Tier I (8) WTA Tier II (15) WTA Tier III (11) WTA Tier IV (11) | 
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most tournament titles |  Steffi Graf (7) | 
| Most tournament finals |  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (9) | 
| Prize money leader |  Steffi Graf (US$2,665,706) | 
| Points leader |  Steffi Graf (4,649) | 
| Awards | |
| Player of the year |  Steffi Graf | 
| Doubles Team of the year |  Jana Novotná  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 
| Most improved player of the year |  Martina Hingis | 
| Newcomer of the year |  Anna Kournikova | 
| Comeback player of the year |  Jennifer Capriati | 
| ← 1995  1997 →  | |
Schedule
    
The table below shows the 1996 WTA Tour schedule.
- Key
| Grand Slam events | 
| Summer Olympic Games | 
| Year-end championships | 
| Tier I events | 
| Tier II events | 
| Tier III events | 
| Tier IV events | 
| Team events | 
January
    
February
    
March
    
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Mar | State Farm Evert Cup Indian Wells, United States Tier I event $550,000 – Hard – 56S/28D Singles – Doubles |  Steffi Graf 7–6, 7–6 |  Conchita Martínez |  Lindsay Davenport  Kimiko Date |  Amanda Coetzer  Chanda Rubin  Nathalie Tauziat  Lindsay Lee | 
|  Chanda Rubin  Brenda Schultz-McCarthy 6–1, 6–4 |  Julie Halard-Decugis  Nathalie Tauziat | ||||
| 21 Mar | Lipton Championships Key Biscayne, United States Tier I event $1,550,000 – Hard – 96S/48D Singles – Doubles |  Steffi Graf 6–1, 6–3 |  Chanda Rubin |  Lindsay Davenport  Karina Habšudová |  Kimiko Date  Anke Huber  Gabriela Sabatini  Irina Spîrlea | 
|  Jana Novotná  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–4, 6–4 |  Meredith McGrath  Larisa Neiland | 
April
    
May
    
June
    
July
    
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Jul | Fed Cup Semifinals Nagoya, Japan, Carpet (i) Bayonne, France, Carpet (i) | Semifinals winners  United States 5–0  Spain 3-2 | Semifinals losers  Japan  France | ||
| 15 Jul | Torneo Internazionali Femminili di Palermo Palermo, Italy Tier IV event $107,500 – Clay – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles |  Barbara Schett 6–3, 6–3 |  Sabine Hack |  Jana Kandarr  Silvia Farina | .svg.png.webp) Stephanie Devillé  Sandra Dopfer  Sarah Pitkowski  Henrieta Nagyová | 
|  Janette Husárová  Barbara Schett 6–1, 6–2 |  Florencia Labat  Barbara Rittner | ||||
| 23 Jul | Summer Olympics Atlanta, United States Summer Olympics Hard – 64S/32D Singles – Doubles |  Gold |  Silver |  Bronze | Fourth Place | 
|  Lindsay Davenport 7–6(8), 6–2 |  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario |  Jana Novotná 7–6(8), 6–4 |  Mary Joe Fernández | ||
|  Gigi Fernández  Mary Joe Fernández 7–6(6), 6–4 |  Jana Novotná  Helena Suková |  Conchita Martínez  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6–1, 6–3 |  Manon Bollegraf  Brenda Schultz-McCarthy | 
August
    
September
    
October
    
November
    
Statistical Information
    
These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the season, within all the tournament categories of the 1996 WTA World Tour: the Grand Slam tournaments, the Year-end championships and the Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV tournaments. The players/nations are sorted by:
- total number of titles (a doubles title won by two players representing the same nation counts as only one win for the nation);
- highest amount of highest category tournaments (for example, having a single Grand Slam gives preference over any kind of combination without a Grand Slam title);
- a singles > doubles > mixed doubles hierarchy;
- alphabetical order (by family names for players).
Titles won by player
    
| Total titles | Player | Grand Slam tournaments | Year-end championships | Tier I tournaments | Tier II tournaments | Tier III tournaments | Tier IV tournaments | All titles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | D | X | S | D | S | D | S | D | S | D | S | D | S | D | X | ||
| 11 |  Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 0 | ||||||||
| 1 |  Sandra Cacic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | .svg.png.webp) Els Callens | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 |  Julie Halard-Decugis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2 |  Yayuk Basuki | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 5 |  Monica Seles | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 7 |  Lindsay Davenport | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | ||||||||
| 4 |  Mary Joe Fernández | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 4 |  Chanda Rubin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||
| 6 |  Larisa Neiland | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2 |  Iva Majoli | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 1 |  Kyōko Nagatsuka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 |  Gigi Fernández | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 3 |  Natasha Zvereva | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 3 |  Kristie Boogert | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||||||||
| 10 |  Jana Novotná | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||
| 4 |  Meredith McGrath | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||
| 6 |  Brenda Schultz-McCarthy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||
| 1 | .svg.png.webp) Sabine Appelmans | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2 |  Manon Bollegraf [a] | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 7 |  Steffi Graf | 3 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||||
|  Irina Spîrlea | |||||||||||||||||
|  Linda Wild | |||||||||||||||||
|  Rika Hiraki | |||||||||||||||||
|  Naoko Kijimuta | |||||||||||||||||
|  Kimiko Date | |||||||||||||||||
|  Ai Sugiyama | |||||||||||||||||
|  Gloria Pizzichini | |||||||||||||||||
|  Laura Montalvo | |||||||||||||||||
|  Paola Suárez | |||||||||||||||||
List of players and singles titles won, last name alphabetically:
 Steffi Graf – Indian Wells, Miami, Berlin, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, WTA Championships (7) Steffi Graf – Indian Wells, Miami, Berlin, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, WTA Championships (7)
 Monica Seles – Sydney, Australian Open, Eastbourne, Montreal, Tokyo (Tier II) (5) Monica Seles – Sydney, Australian Open, Eastbourne, Montreal, Tokyo (Tier II) (5)
 Jana Novotná – Madrid, Zurich, Chicago, Philadelphia (4) Jana Novotná – Madrid, Zurich, Chicago, Philadelphia (4)
 Ruxandra Dragomir – Budapest, Karlovy Vary, Pattaya City (3) Ruxandra Dragomir – Budapest, Karlovy Vary, Pattaya City (3)
 Anke Huber – Rosmalen, Leipzig, Luxembourg (3) Anke Huber – Rosmalen, Leipzig, Luxembourg (3)
 Kimiko Date – Tokyo (Tier III), San Diego (2) Kimiko Date – Tokyo (Tier III), San Diego (2)
 Lindsay Davenport – Strasbourg, Manhattan Beach (2) Lindsay Davenport – Strasbourg, Manhattan Beach (2)
 Julie Halard-Decugis – Hobart, Paris (2) Julie Halard-Decugis – Hobart, Paris (2)
 Martina Hingis – Filderstadt, Oakland (2) Martina Hingis – Filderstadt, Oakland (2)
 Iva Majoli – Tokyo (Tier I), Essen (2) Iva Majoli – Tokyo (Tier I), Essen (2)
 Conchita Martínez – Rome, Moscow (2) Conchita Martínez – Rome, Moscow (2)
 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario – Hilton Head, Hamburg (2) Arantxa Sánchez Vicario – Hilton Head, Hamburg (2)
 Shi-Ting Wang – Surabaya, Beijing (2) Shi-Ting Wang – Surabaya, Beijing (2)
 Sandra Cacic – Auckland (1) Sandra Cacic – Auckland (1)
 Meredith McGrath – Birmingham (1) Meredith McGrath – Birmingham (1)
 Henrieta Nagyová – Warsaw (1) Henrieta Nagyová – Warsaw (1)
 Barbara Paulus – Maria Lankowitz (1) Barbara Paulus – Maria Lankowitz (1)
 Gloria Pizzichini – Bol (1) Gloria Pizzichini – Bol (1)
 Lisa Raymond – Quebec City (1) Lisa Raymond – Quebec City (1)
 Barbara Schett – Palermo (1) Barbara Schett – Palermo (1)
 Brenda Schultz-McCarthy – Oklahoma City (1) Brenda Schultz-McCarthy – Oklahoma City (1)
 Irina Spîrlea – Amelia Island (1) Irina Spîrlea – Amelia Island (1)
.svg.png.webp) Dominique Van Roost – Cardiff (1) Dominique Van Roost – Cardiff (1)
 Linda Wild – Jakarta (1) Linda Wild – Jakarta (1)
The following players won their first title:
Rankings
    
Below are the 1996 WTA year-end rankings in both singles and doubles competition:
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See also
    
    
References
    
- Hill, James (2011-11-11). "Corel WTA Tour Rankings Rank Date: 23 November 1996" (PDF). WTA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
- Hill, James (2011-11-11). "Corel WTA Tour Rankings Rank Date: 23 November 1996" (PDF). WTA. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
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