1976 WTA Tour

1976 WTA Tour

Evert dominated 1976 earning the most titles and ending at number 1
Details
Duration	26 December 1975 – 2 December 1976
Edition	6th
Tournaments	37
Categories	Grand Slam (4) Virginia Slims championships Virginia Slims Circuit (10) Women's International Grand Prix (9) Non-Tour Events (11)
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titles	Chris Evert (11)
Most tournament finals	Chris Evert (14)
Prize money leader	Chris Evert ($343,165)
Points leader	Chris Evert (16.990)
← 1975 1977 →

The 1976 WTA Tour consisted of a number of tennis tournaments for female tennis players. It was composed of the newly streamlined version of the Virginia Slims Circuit (which was now an 11-week tour of the USA) and the Woman's International Grand Prix. The year 1976 also saw the creation of the first official ranking system and these rankings were used to determine acceptance into the tournaments.^[1][2]

Schedule

This is a calendar of all events which were part of either the Virginia Slims circuit or the Women's International Grand Prix in the year 1976, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage. Also included are the Grand Slam tournaments, the 1976 Virginia Slims Championships, the 1976 Federation Cup and a number of events not affiliated with either tour.^[1]

Key

Grand Slam tournaments

Virginia Slims championships

Virginia Slims Circuit

Women's International Grand Prix

Non-Tour Events

Team events

January

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
26 December	Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Grass – 56S/24D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–3, 6–2	Renáta Tomanová	Helen Gourlay Cawley Elisabeth Ekblom	Lesley Bowrey Heidi Eisterlehner Helga Masthoff Christine Matison
		Evonne Goolagong Cawley Helen Gourlay Cawley 8–1	Lesley Turner Bowrey Renáta Tomanová
5 January	L‟Eggs World Series Austin, Texas, USA Non-Tour Event – Hard – 32S/8D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 6–3, 7–6	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Virginia Wade Martina Navratilova
12 January	Virginia Slims of Houston Houston, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/12D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Martina Navratilova 6–3, 6–4	Chris Evert	Rosie Casals Nancy Gunter	Sue Barker Olga Morozova Marcie Louie Renáta Tomanová
		Françoise Dürr Rosie Casals 6–0, 7–5	Martina Navratilova Chris Evert
19 January	Virginia Slims of Washington Washington, D.C., United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Hard – 32S/8D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 6–2, 6–1	Virginia Wade	Sue Barker Terry Holladay	Mima Jaušovec Olga Morozova Lesley Hunt Natasha Chmyreva
		Olga Morozova Virginia Wade 7–6, 6–2	Wendy Overton Mona Guerrant
26 January	Virginia Slims of Chicago Chicago, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Hard – 32S/10D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 3–6, 6–4, 6–2	Virginia Wade	Martina Navratilova Nancy Gunter	Cynthia Doerner Olga Morozova Natasha Chmyreva Wendy Overton
		Olga Morozova Virginia Wade 6–7, 6–4, 6-4	Evonne Goolagong Cawley Martina Navratilova

February

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
3 February	Virginia Slims of Akron Akron, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–2, 3–6, 6–2	Virginia Wade	Rosie Casals Olga Morozova	Iris Riedel Nancy Gunter Mima Jaušovec Sue Barker
		Brigitte Cuypers Mona Guerrant 6–4, 7–6	Glynis Coles Florenţa Mihai
17 February	Virginia Slims of Detroit Detroit, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 6–4, 6–2	Rosie Casals
		Mona Guerrant Ann Kiyomura 6–3, 6–4	Chris Evert Betty Stöve
24 February	Virginia Slims of Sarasota Sarasota, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 6–3, 6–0	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Martina Navratilova Rosie Casals	Carrie Meyer Mona Guerrant Mima Jaušovec Lesley Hunt
		Martina Navratilova Betty Stöve 6–1, 6–0	Mona Guerrant Ann Kiyomura

March

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
1 March	Virginia Slims of San Francisco San Francisco, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Hard – 32S/8D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 7–5, 7–6	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Terry Holladay Marita Redondo	Rosie Casals Martina Navratilova Virginia Wade Nancy Gunter
		Billie Jean King Betty Stöve 6–4, 6–1	Rosie Casals Françoise Dürr
15 March	Virginia Slims of Dallas Dallas, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/10D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–1, 6–1	Martina Navratilova	Kerry Melville Marita Redondo	Greer Stevens Betty Stöve Carrie Meyer Natasha Chmyreva
		Mona Guerrant Ann Kiyomura 6–3, 4–6, 6–4	Greer Stevens Marita Redondo
22 March	Virginia Slims of Boston Boston, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/12D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–2, 6–0	Virginia Wade	Rosie Casals Dianne Fromholtz	Kerry Melville Lesley Hunt Natasha Chmyreva Mima Jaušovec
		Mona Guerrant Ann Kiyomura 3–6, 6–1, 7–5	Rosie Casals Françoise Dürr
29 March	Virginia Slims of Philadelphia Philadelphia, United States Virginia Slims $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/11D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–3, 7–6	Chris Evert	Virginia Wade Sue Barker	Dianne Fromholtz Olga Morozova Kerry Melville Rosie Casals
		Billie Jean King Betty Stöve 7–6, 6–4	Rosie Casals Françoise Dürr

April

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists		Quarterfinalists
12 April	Virginia Slims Championships Los Angeles, United States Year-end championships $150,000 – Carpet (i) – 16S (8RR) Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–3, 5-7, 6–3	Chris Evert	Third:	Fourth	5th: Sue Barker 8-5 6th: Marita Redondo 7th: Virginia Wade 21-13 8th: Françoise Dürr
				Rosie Casals 8–5	Martina Navratilova
26 April	Family Circle Cup Amelia Island, United States Women's International Grand Prix $110,000 – Clay – 32S/16D Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 7–5, 6–4	Kerry Melville	Mary Struthers Sue Barker		Betty Stöve Lesley Hunt Ilana Kloss Nancy Gunter
		Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss

May

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
10 May	Coca-Cola British Hard Court Championships Bournemouth, Great Britain Non-tour event Hard Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Helga Niessen Masthoff 5–7, 6–3, 6–3	Sue Barker
		Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss 6–3, 6–2	Lesley Charles Sue Mappin
17 May	German Open Hamburg, West Germany Women's International Grand Prix $30,000 – Clay Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Sue Barker 6–3, 6–1	Renáta Tomanová	Virginia Ruzici Mima Jaušovec	Iris Riedel Helga Niessen Masthoff Glynis Coles Regina Maršíková
		Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss 4–6, 7-5, 6–1	Laura DuPont Wendy Turnbull
24 May	Italian Open Rome, Italy Women's International Grand Prix $30,000 – Clay Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Mima Jaušovec 6–1, 6–3	Lesley Hunt	Regina Maršíková Florența Mihai	Sue Barker Linky Boshoff Gail Lovera Beth Norton
		Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss 6–1, 6–2	Virginia Ruzici Mariana Simionescu
31 May 7 June	French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay (Red) – 64S/64Q/22D/24X Singles Draw – Doubles Draw – Mixed Draw	Sue Barker 6–2, 0–6, 6–2	Renáta Tomanová	Florența Mihai Virginia Ruzici	Helga Niessen Masthoff Kathy Kuykendall Miroslava Holubova Regina Maršíková
		Fiorella Bonicelli Gail Lovera 6–3, 6–2	Kathleen Harter Helga Niessen Masthoff
		Ilana Kloss Kim Warwick 5–7, 7–6, 6–2	Linky Boshoff Colin Dowdeswell

June

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
14 June	Colgate International Eastbourne, Great Britain Women's International Grand Prix $25,000 – Grass Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 8–6, 6–3	Virginia Wade	Olga Morozova Martina Navratilova	Betty Stöve Rosie Casals Betsy Nagelsen Mona Guerrant
		Chris Evert / Martina Navratilova vs Evonne Goolagong Cawley / Peggy Michel not finished due to rain
21 June 28 June	Wimbledon Championships London, Great Britain Grand Slam Grass – 96S/48D/64X Singles Draw – Doubles Draw – Mixed Draw	Chris Evert 6–3, 4–6, 8-6	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Martina Navratilova Virginia Wade	Olga Morozova Sue Barker Kerry Melville Rosie Casals
		Chris Evert Martina Navratilova 6–1, 3–6, 7–5	Billie Jean King Betty Stöve
		Françoise Dürr Tony Roche 6–3, 2–6, 7–5	Rosie Casals Dick Stockton

July

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
5 July	Swiss Open Gstaad, Switzerland Non-tour event Clay Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Michele Gurdal 4-6, 6–2, 6–3	Gail Chanfreau
		Betsy Nagelsen Wendy Turnbull 6–4, 6–4	Brigitte Cuypers Annette DuPlooy
	Swedish Open Båstad, Sweden Non-tour event Clay Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Renáta Tomanová 6–3, 6–2	Helena Anliot
		Isabel Fernández de Soto Mimi Wikstedt 6–1, 7–6	Lesley Hunt Renáta Tomanová
12 July	Head Open Kitzbühel, Austria Non-tour event Clay Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Wendy Turnbull 6–4, 5-7, 6–2	Virginia Ruzici
		Helena Anliot Mimi Wikstedt 6–4, 2–6, 7-5	Katja Ebbinghaus Heidi Eisterlehner

August

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
9 August	US Clay Court Championships Indianapolis, United States Women's International Grand Prix $35,000 – Clay Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Kathy May 6–4, 4–6, 6–2	Brigitte Cuypers
		Fiorella Bonicelli Isabel Fernández de Soto 3–6, 7–5, 6–3	Gail Chanfreau Julie Heldman
16 August	Rothmans Canadian Open Toronto, Canada Women's International Grand Prix $35,000 – Clay Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Mima Jaušovec 6–2, 6–0	Lesley Hunt	Virginia Ruzici Cynthia Doerner	Sue Barker Kathy May Regina Maršíková Laura DuPont
		Cynthia Doerner Janet Newberry 6–7, 6–3, 6–1	Sue Barker Pam Teeguarden
	WTA Westchester Invitational Westchester, United States Non-tour event Clay	Beth Norton 1–6, 7–5, 6–3	Ruta Gerulaitis
23 August	Federation Cup Philadelphia, United States Federation Cup Carpet (i) – 31 teams knockout	United States 2–1	Australia	Netherlands  Great Britain	Switzerland  Denmark  South Africa  West Germany
	Tennis Week Open Orange, New Jersey, USA Non-tour event Clay	Marise Kruger 6–3, 6–2	Lea Antonoplis
30 August 6 September	US Open New York, United States Grand Slam Clay – 64S/32D/32X Singles Draw – Doubles Draw – Mixed Draw	Chris Evert 6–3, 6–0	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Mima Jaušovec Dianne Fromholtz	Natasha Chmyreva Virginia Ruzici Zenda Liess Rosie Casals
		Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss 6–1, 6–4	Olga Morozova Virginia Wade
		Billie Jean King Phil Dent 3–6, 6–2, 7–5	Betty Stöve Frew McMillan

September

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
13 September	US Indoors Atlanta, United States Women's International Grand Prix $60,000 – Hard Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Virginia Wade 5–7, 7–5, 7–5	Betty Stöve
		Rosie Casals Françoise Dürr 6–0, 6–4	Betty Stöve Virginia Wade
27 September	Toray Sillook Open Tokyo, Japan Women's International Grand Prix $60,000 – Hard	Betty Stöve 1–6, 6–4, 6–3	Margaret Court

October

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
4 October	Thunderbird Classic Phoenix, United States Women's International Grand Prix $60,000 – Hard Singles Draw – Doubles Draw	Chris Evert 6–1, 7–5	Dianne Fromholtz	Betty Stöve Martina Navratilova	Terry Holladay JoAnne Russell Billie Jean King Mona Guerrant
		Billie Jean King Betty Stöve 6–2, 6–1	Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss
11 October	World Invitational Tennis Classic Hilton Head Island, United States Non-tour event Clay Draw	Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–3, 6–4	Virginia Wade
		Sue Barker Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–4, 4–6, 6-3	Martina Navratilova Virginia Wade

November

Week of	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
1 November	Japan Open Tokyo, Japan Non-tour event Hard (i)]	Wendy Turnbull 6–1, 6–1	Michele Gurdal
	Wightman Cup Williamsburg, Virginia, United States Hard (i) Team event	United States 5-2Chris Evert 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 Rosemary Casals Terry Holladay 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 Rosemary Casals Chris Evert 2-6, 6-2, 6-2	Great BritainVirginia Wade Sue Barker 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 Glynis Coles Virginia Wade 3-6, 9-7 Ret. Sue Barker
		Rosemary Casals / Chris Evert 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 Mona Guerrant / Ann Kiyomura 6-2, 6-2	Sue Barker / Virginia Wade Lesley Charles / Sue Mappin
25 November	Gunze World Tennis Tokyo, Japan Non-tour event Hard (i)]	Chris Evert 6–2, 7–6	Sue Barker

Rankings

Below are the 1976 WTA year-end rankings (December 31, 1976) Singles competition:

Singles Year-end Ranking[3]
No	Player Name	Points	1975	Change
1	Chris Evert (USA)	16.990	1	=
2	Evonne Goolagong Cawley (AUS)	16.326	5	+3
3	Virginia Wade (GBR)	10.933	2	-1
4	Martina Navratilova (USA)	10.272	3	-1
5	Dianne Fromholtz (AUS)	8.012	20	+15
6	Rosie Casals (USA)	7.644	12	+6
7	Betty Stöve (NED)	7.158	22	+15
8	Kerry Melville (AUS)	7.064	10	+2
9	Olga Morozova (USSR)	6.523	7	-2
10	Sue Barker (GBR)	6.480	19	+9
11	Mima Jaušovec (YUG)	5.702	40	+29
12	Nancy Gunter (USA)	5.525	8	-4
13	Terry Holladay (USA)	4.132	26	+13
14	Natasha Chmyreva (USSR)	5.066	21	+7
15	Françoise Dürr (FRA)	4.639	9	-6
16	Marita Redondo (USA)	4.603	60	+44
17	Greer Stevens (RSA)	4.522	48	+31
18	JoAnne Russell (USA)	4.493	35	+17
19	Kathy May (USA)	4.277	57	+38
20	Mona Guerrant (USA)	4.236	NR	NR

See also

• 1976 Men's Grand Prix circuit

References

1. "WTA Tour Finals" (PDF). www.wtatennis.com. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
2. "About the WTA". www.wtatennis.com. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
3. "Women's International Computerized Rankings" (PDF). Women's Tennis Association (WTA). 5 December 1976.

External links

• Women's Tennis Association (WTA) official website
• International Tennis Federation (ITF) official website