The 1996 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 110th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held from 24 June to 7 July 1996.

Events

When rain interrupted play on Centre Court on 3 July with a crowd that included Prince Michael of Kent, Princess Michael of Kent and actress Joanna Lumley, Cliff Richard, who was watching from the royal box, was approached by court officials for an interview. They suggested that he sing a song or two to entertain the crowd. With approval from his PR manager Richard proceeded to give an impromptu performance, starting with "Summer Holiday".

The performance ran for twenty minutes and consisted of Richard's hits such as "Living Doll" and "Congratulations", as well as the Elvis Presley hit "All Shook Up". Past tennis stars Virginia Wade, Martina Navratilova, Hana Mandlíková, Pam Shriver, Liz Smylie, Gigi Fernández and Conchita Martínez were in the Royal Box and proceeded to join in as background singers.

Richard was not aware that his performance was televised by the BBC, and after six songs presenter Des Lynam jokingly claimed "we'll probably get one hell of a bill." The performance made the front pages in many major British newspapers on the following day. Since a retractable roof was completed on Centre Court in 2009 such a performance is unlikely to happen again.

During the entrance of the court staff for the Men's Singles final, the court was briefly invaded by a streaker.

Prize money

The total prize money for 1996 championships was £6,465,910. The winner of the men's title earned £392,500 while the women's singles champion earned £353,000.

EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64Round of 128
Men's singles£392,500
Women's singles£353,000
Men's doubles *£160,810—N/a
Women's doubles *£139,040—N/a
Mixed doubles *£68,280—N/a

* per team

Champions

Seniors

Men's singles

Netherlands Richard Krajicek defeated United States MaliVai Washington, 6–3, 6–4, 6–3

  • It was Krajicek's 1st and only career Grand Slam singles title. He became the first Dutchman to win a Grand Slam singles title and the first Dutch singles winner since Kea Bouman in 1926.

Women's singles

Germany Steffi Graf defeated Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, 6–3, 7–5

  • It was Graf's 20th career Grand Slam singles title and her 7th and last title at Wimbledon.

Men's doubles

Australia Todd Woodbridge / Australia Mark Woodforde defeated Zimbabwe Byron Black / Canada Grant Connell, 4–6, 6–1, 6–3, 6–2

  • It was Woodbridge's 10th career Grand Slam title and his 5th Wimbledon title. It was Woodforde's 11th career Grand Slam title and his 4th Wimbledon title.

Women's doubles

Switzerland Martina Hingis / Czech Republic Helena Suková defeated United States Meredith McGrath / Latvia Larisa Neiland, 5–7, 7–5, 6–1

  • It was Hingis' 1st career Grand Slam doubles title. It was Suková's 9th and last career Grand Slam doubles title and her 4th title at Wimbledon.

Mixed doubles

Czech Republic Cyril Suk / Czech Republic Helena Suková defeated Australia Mark Woodforde / Latvia Larisa Neiland, 1–6, 6–3, 6–2

  • It was Suk's 3rd career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and his 2nd title at Wimbledon. It was Suková's 4th career Grand Slam mixed doubles title and her 2nd title at Wimbledon.

Juniors

Boys' singles

Belarus Vladimir Voltchkov defeated Croatia Ivan Ljubičić, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3

Girls' singles

France Amélie Mauresmo defeated Spain Magüi Serna, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4

Boys' doubles

Italy Daniele Bracciali / Canada Jocelyn Robichaud defeated South Africa Damien Roberts / South Africa Wesley Whitehouse, 6–2, 6–4

Girls' doubles

Belarus Olga Barabanschikova / France Amélie Mauresmo defeated United States Lilia Osterloh / United States Samantha Reeves, 5–7, 6–3, 6–1

Invitation

Gentlemen's invitation doubles

Poland Wojciech Fibak / United States Tim Wilkison defeated Czech Republic Pavel Složil / Czech Republic Tomáš Šmíd, 6–2, 5–7, 6–1

Ladies' invitation doubles

United Kingdom Jo Durie / United States Anne Smith defeated Slovenia Mima Jaušovec / South Africa Yvonne Vermaak, 6–3, 6–2

Senior gentlemen's invitation doubles

Australia John Alexander / Australia Phil Dent defeated United States Marty Riessen / United States Sherwood Stewart, 7–6, 6–2

Singles seeds

Men's singles United States Pete Sampras (quarterfinals, lost to Richard Krajicek) Germany Boris Becker (third round, lost to Neville Godwin) United States Andre Agassi (first round, lost to Doug Flach) Croatia Goran Ivanišević (quarterfinals, lost to Jason Stoltenberg) Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov (first round, lost to Tim Henman) United States Michael Chang (first round, lost to Albert Costa) Austria Thomas Muster (withdrew before the tournament began) United States Jim Courier (first round, lost to Jonathan Stark) Sweden Thomas Enqvist (second round, lost to MaliVai Washington) Germany Michael Stich (fourth round, lost to Richard Krajicek) South Africa Wayne Ferreira (third round, lost to Magnus Gustafsson) Sweden Stefan Edberg (second round, lost to Mikael Tillström) United States Todd Martin (semifinals, lost to MaliVai Washington) Switzerland Marc Rosset (third round, lost to Pat Rafter) France Arnaud Boetsch (first round, lost to Alex Rădulescu) France Cédric Pioline (fourth round, lost to Pete Sampras) Netherlands Richard Krajicek (champion)Women's singles Germany Steffi Graf (champion) United States Monica Seles (second round, lost to Katarína Studeníková) Spain Conchita Martínez (quarterfinals, lost to Kimiko Date) Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (final, lost to Steffi Graf) Germany Anke Huber (third round, lost to Ai Sugiyama) Czech Republic Jana Novotná (quarterfinals, lost to Steffi Graf) United States Chanda Rubin (withdrew before the tournament began) United States Lindsay Davenport (second round, lost to Larisa Neiland) United States Mary Joe Fernández (quarterfinals, lost to Meredith McGrath) Bulgaria Magdalena Maleeva (second round, lost to Nathalie Tauziat) Netherlands Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (third round, lost to Sabine Appelmans) Japan Kimiko Date (semifinals, lost to Steffi Graf) France Mary Pierce (quarterfinals, lost to Kimiko Date) South Africa Amanda Coetzer (second round, lost to Meredith McGrath) Romania Irina Spîrlea (second round, lost to Inés Gorrochategui) Switzerland Martina Hingis (fourth round, lost to Steffi Graf) Slovakia Karina Habšudová (first round, lost to Judith Wiesner)

External links

Preceded by1996 French OpenGrand SlamsSucceeded by1996 US Open