1976 WTA Tour
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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, was now an 11-week tour of the United States, and the Woman's International Grand Prix. The 1976 tour was the first full season using the official ranking system and these rankings were used to determine acceptance into the tournaments.
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.
Key
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Virginia Slims Championships |
| Virginia Slims Circuit |
| Women's International Grand Prix |
| Non-tour events |
| Team events |
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Jul | Swiss Open Gstaad, Switzerland Non-tour event Clay | Belgium Michele Gurdal 4-6, 6–2, 6–3 | France Gail Chanfreau | ||
| United States Betsy Nagelsen Australia Wendy Turnbull 6–4, 6–4 | South Africa Brigitte Cuypers South Africa Annette DuPlooy | ||||
| Swedish Open Båstad, Sweden Non-tour event Clay | Czechoslovakia Renáta Tomanová 6–3, 6–2 | Sweden Helena Anliot | |||
| Colombia Isabel Fernández de Soto Sweden Mimmi Wikstedt 6–1, 7–6 | Australia Lesley Hunt Czechoslovakia Renáta Tomanová | ||||
| 12 Jul | Head Open Kitzbühel, Austria Non-tour event Clay | Australia Wendy Turnbull 6–4, 5–7, 6–2 | Romania Virginia Ruzici | ||
| Sweden Helena Anliot Sweden Mimmi Wikstedt 6–4, 2–6, 7–5 | West Germany Katja Ebbinghaus West Germany Heidi Eisterlehner |
August
September
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Sep | US Indoor Championships Atlanta, United States Women's International Grand Prix Carpet (i) – $75,000 | United Kingdom Virginia Wade 5–7, 7–5, 7–5 | Netherlands Betty Stöve | Australia Dianne Fromholtz Australia Wendy Turnbull | United Kingdom Winnie Shaw South Africa Marise Kruger South Africa Brigitte Cuypers United States JoAnne Russell |
| United States Rosie Casals France Françoise Dürr 6–0, 6–4 | Netherlands Betty Stöve United Kingdom Virginia Wade | ||||
| 27 Sep | Toray Sillook Open Tokyo, Japan Non-tour event Carpet (i) – $50,000 | Netherlands Betty Stöve 1–6, 6–4, 6–3 | Australia Margaret Court | United States Valerie Ziegenfuss (3rd) Australia Lesley Hunt (4th) | United States Betsy Nagelsen United States Rayni Fox United Kingdom Virginia Wade United States Marita Redondo |
October
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Oct | Thunderbird Classic Phoenix, United States Women's International Grand Prix Hard – $60,000 | United States Chris Evert 6–1, 7–5 | Australia Dianne Fromholtz | Netherlands Betty Stöve United States Martina Navratilova | United States Terry Holladay United States JoAnne Russell United States Billie Jean King United States Mona Guerrant |
| United States Billie Jean King Netherlands Betty Stöve 6–2, 6–1 | South Africa Linky Boshoff South Africa Ilana Kloss | ||||
| 11 Oct | World Invitational Tennis Classic Hilton Head Island, United States Non-tour event Clay | Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–3, 6–4 | United Kingdom Virginia Wade | ||
| United Kingdom Sue Barker Australia Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 | United States Martina Navratilova United Kingdom Virginia Wade |
November
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov | Japan Open Tokyo, Japan Non-tour event Clay | Australia Wendy Turnbull 6–1, 6–1 | Belgium Michele Gurdal | ||
| Wightman Cup Crystal Palace, London, Great Britain Hard (i) Team event | United States 5–2 | Great Britain | |||
| 25 Nov | Gunze World Tennis Tokyo & Kobe, Japan Non-tour event Hard (i) – $100,000 | United States Chris Evert 6–2, 7–6(7–4) | United Kingdom Sue Barker | United States Rosie Casals United States Martina Navratilova | Czechoslovakia Renáta Tomanová France Françoise Dürr United States Ann Kiyomura United States Jeanne Evert |
| United Kingdom Sue Barker United States Ann Kiyomura 4–6, 6–3, 6–1 | United States Rosie Casals France Françoise Dürr |
Rankings
Below are the 1976 WTA year-end rankings (December 31, 1976) Singles competition:
| Singles Year-end Ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |