The 1996 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on

grass court A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. Although grass c ...

s at the

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London, England, is a Gentlemen's club, private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon ...

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

in the United Kingdom. It was the 110th edition of the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

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 Prince Michael of Kent, (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family, who is 51st in the line of succession to the British throne as of September 2022. Queen Elizabeth II and Michael were first ...

Princess Michael of Kent Princess Michael of Kent (born Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, 15 January 1945) is a member of the British royal family of German, Austrian, Czech and Hungarian descent. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, ...

and actress Joanna Lumley,

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

, 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 Congratulations may refer to: Film and television *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary Music Albums * ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...

", as well as the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

hit "

All Shook Up "All Shook Up" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley, published by Elvis Presley Music, and composed by Otis Blackwell. The single topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top 100 on April 13, 1957, staying there for eight weeks. It also topped the ''Bil ...

". Past tennis stars

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

Hana Mandlíková Hana Mandlíková (born 19 February 1962) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia who later obtained Australian citizenship. During her career she won four Grand Slam singles titles - the 1980 Australian Open, 1981 French Op ...

Pam Shriver Pamela Howard Shriver (born July 4, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player and current tennis broadcaster and pundit. During the 1980s and 1990s, Shriver won 133 titles, including 21 singles titles, 111 women's doubles titles, an ...

Liz Smylie Elizabeth Smylie (née Sayers, born 11 April 1963), sometimes known as Liz Smylie, is a retired Australian tennis player. During her career, she won four Grand Slam titles, one of them in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. She also wo ...

Gigi Fernández Beatriz "Gigi" Fernández (born February 22, 1964) is a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player. Fernández won 17 major doubles titles and two Olympic gold medals representing the United States, and reached the world No. 1 ranking in do ...

and

Conchita Martínez "Conchita" Martínez Bernat (born 16 April 1972) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. She was the first Spaniard to win the women's singles title at The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon, doing so in 1994 Wimbledon Championships � ...

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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, 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 A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...

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. _{* per team}

Champions

Seniors

Men's singles

Richard Krajicek Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek ( cz, Krajíček; born 6 December 1971) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. In 1996, he won the men's singles title at Wimbledon, and remains the only Dutch player to have won a major singles title. In ...

defeated

MaliVai Washington MaliVai "Mal" Washington ( ) (born June 20, 1969) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon in 1996, won four ATP titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in Octo ...

, 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

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks and won 22 major singles titles, ...

defeated 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

Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde defeated

Byron Black Byron Hamish Black (born 6 October 1969) is a former touring professional tennis and Davis Cup player for Zimbabwe. Personal life He is the son of Donald Black and Velia Black and brother to Wayne Black and Cara, who were also professional ten ...

/ 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

Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...

Helena Suková Helena Suková () (born 23 February 1965) is a Czech former professional tennis player. During her career, she won 14 major doubles titles, nine in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles. She is also a two-time Olympic silver medalist in doub ...

defeated

Meredith McGrath Meredith McGrath (born April 28, 1971) is a former professional tennis player. She was born in Midland, Michigan, and made her debut on the WTA Tour in 1988. In her eight-year professional career, Meredith achieved career-high world rankings of ...

Larisa Neiland Larisa Savchenko-Neiland ( uk, Лариса Савченко-Нейланд, lv, Larisa Savčenko-Neilande; née Savchenko; also Larisa Neiland; born 21 July 1966) is a retired tennis player who represented the Soviet Union, Ukraine and Latvia. ...

, 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

Cyril Suk /

defeated Mark Woodforde /

, 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

Vladimir Voltchkov Vladimir Nikolayevich Voltchkov ( be, Уладзімір Мікалаевіч Валчкоў, ''Uładzimir Mikałajevič Vałčkoŭ''; russian: Владимир Николаевич Волчков; born April 7, 1978) is a Belarusian former profe ...

defeated Ivan Ljubičić, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3

Girls' singles

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

Boys' doubles

Daniele Bracciali Daniele Bracciali (; born 10 January 1978) is an Italian former tennis player, best ranked world no. 21 in doubles. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world no. 49, achieved in May 2006. In doubles, he reached the semifinals of the 2012 Fren ...

Jocelyn Robichaud Jocelyn Robichaud (born 8 April 1978 in Joliette, Quebec) is a former tour professional tennis player. Robichaud captured three junior Grand Slam titles and played Davis Cup for Canada. More of a doubles specialist, he won three Challenger ev ...

defeated

Damien Roberts Damien Roberts (born 26 January 1978) is a South African former professional tennis player. Biography Roberts went to Kearsney College until 1994, when he moved to the United States to train at the John Newcombe Tennis Academy in Texas. He atte ...

/ Wesley Whitehouse, 6–2, 6–4

Girls' doubles

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

Invitation

Gentlemen's invitation doubles

Wojciech Fibak Wojciech Fibak (; popularly Wojtek Fibak ; born 30 August 1952) is a former professional tennis player and Polish entrepreneur and art collector. Fibak is best known for his doubles success with Dutch pro Tom Okker and Australian Kim Warwick, a ...

/ Tim Wilkison defeated

Pavel Složil Pavel Složil (born 29 December 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Složil enjoyed most of his tennis success while playing doubles. During his career, he won 32 doubles titles and finished runner-up an additiona ...

/ Tomáš Šmíd, 6–2, 5–7, 6–1

Ladies' invitation doubles

Jo Durie Joanna Mary Durie (born 27 July 1960) is a former world No. 5 tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she also reached No. 9 in doubles, and won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles with Jeremy Bates. Born in Bris ...

Anne Smith Anne or Ann Smith may refer to: People In arts and media *Anne Smith (silversmith) ( 1770s), English silversmith *Ann Eliza Smith (1819–1905), American author and patriot *Anne Mollegen Smith, American magazine editor and writer *Anne Smith ( 195 ...

defeated

Mima Jaušovec Mima Jaušovec (; born 20 July 1956) is a retired Yugoslavian tennis player. She won the 1977 French Open singles championship. Early life Jaušovec was born in Maribor, in present-day Slovenia, when it was part of Yugoslavia. Career As a gir ...

Yvonne Vermaak Yvonne Vermaak (born 18 December 1956) is a former tour tennis player who represented her native South Africa. Vermaak's best result was reaching the semi-finals of the 1983 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Virginia Wade in the quarter-fina ...

, 6–3, 6–2

Senior gentlemen's invitation doubles

John Alexander / Phil Dent defeated

Marty Riessen Marty Riessen (born December 4, 1941) is an American former amateur and professional tennis player active from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was ranked as high as No. 11 in the world in singles on the ATP rankings in September 1974, though was rank ...

Sherwood Stewart Sherwood Stewart (born June 6, 1946) is a former professional tennis player who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. Stewart was ranked as high as No. 60 in the world in singles on the ATP Rankings on December 31, 1978, and No. 4 in doubles on J ...

, 7–6, 6–2

Singles seeds

Men's singles

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

''(quarterfinals, lost to

)'' #

Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...

''(third round, lost to Neville Godwin)'' #

Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...

''(first round, lost to Doug Flach)'' # Goran Ivanišević ''(quarterfinals, lost to

Jason Stoltenberg Jason Stoltenberg (born 4 April 1970) is an Australian former professional tennis player. Tennis career Stoltenberg began playing tennis at age ten on an antbed (crushed termite mound) court where his father owned a cotton farm in the Far Wes ...

)'' # Yevgeny Kafelnikov ''(first round, lost to Tim Henman)'' #

Michael Chang Michael Te-pei Chang (born February 22, 1972) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. He is the youngest man in history to win a singles major, winning the 1989 French Open at 17 years and 109 days old. Chang won a total o ...

''(first round, lost to Albert Costa)'' # Thomas Muster ''(withdrew before the tournament began)'' # Jim Courier ''(first round, lost to Jonathan Stark)'' # Thomas Enqvist ''(second round, lost to

)'' # Michael Stich ''(fourth round, lost to

)'' # Wayne Ferreira ''(third round, lost to

Magnus Gustafsson Magnus Nils Gustafsson (born 3 January 1967) is a tennis coach and former top ten professional tennis player from Sweden. Gustafsson won 14 tour singles titles during his career and finished 15 consecutive seasons within the world's top 100, re ...

)'' #

Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 1985 ...

''(second round, lost to Mikael Tillström)'' # Todd Martin ''(semifinals, lost to

)'' # Marc Rosset ''(third round, lost to Pat Rafter)'' # Arnaud Boetsch ''(first round, lost to Alex Rădulescu)'' #

Cédric Pioline Cédric Pioline (born 15 June 1969) is a French former professional tennis player who played on the professional tour from 1989 to 2002. He reached the men's singles final at the 1993 US Open and at Wimbledon in 1997. On both occasions, he was ...

''(fourth round, lost to

)'' #

(champion)

Women's singles

(champion) # Monica Seles ''(second round, lost to

Katarína Studeníková Katarína Studeníková (born 2 September 1972) is a former professional Slovak tennis player. Her highest singles ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is 31st, which she reached on 23 December 1996. Her career-high in doubles was at ...

)'' #

''(quarterfinals, lost to

Kimiko Date is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking ...

)'' # Arantxa Sánchez Vicario ''(final, lost to

)'' # Anke Huber ''(third round, lost to Ai Sugiyama)'' # Jana Novotná ''(quarterfinals, lost to

)'' # Chanda Rubin ''(withdrew before the tournament began)'' # Lindsay Davenport ''(second round, lost to

)'' # Mary Joe Fernández ''(quarterfinals, lost to

)'' #

Magdalena Maleeva Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva ( bg, Магдалена Георгиева Малеева, ; born 1 April 1975) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. She played on the WTA Tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to Octo ...

''(second round, lost to

Nathalie Tauziat Nathalie Tauziat (born 17 October 1967) is a French former professional tennis player. She was the runner-up in women's singles at the 1998 Wimbledon Championships and runner-up in the women's doubles at the 2001 US Open partnering Kimberl ...

)'' # Brenda Schultz-McCarthy ''(third round, lost to

Sabine Appelmans Sabine Appelmans (born 22 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. She was Belgium's Fed Cup captain from 2007 until 2011. Career Appelmans started playing at the neighbour's court at the age of seven. Her first traine ...

)'' #

''(semifinals, lost to

)'' # Mary Pierce ''(quarterfinals, lost to

)'' # Amanda Coetzer ''(second round, lost to

)'' # Irina Spîrlea ''(second round, lost to Inés Gorrochategui)'' #

''(fourth round, lost to

)'' # Karina Habšudová ''(first round, lost to Judith Wiesner)''

References

External links

Official Wimbledon Championships website
{{1996 in tennis 1996 Wimbledon Championships, 1996 sports events in London, Wimbledon Championships 1996 in tennis, Wimbledon Championships June 1996 sports events in the United Kingdom, Wimbledon Championships July 1996 sports events in the United Kingdom, Wimbledon Championships