1996 Wimbledon Championships

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.

Event	W	F	SF	QF	Round of 16	Round of 32	Round of 64	Round of 128
Men's singles	£392,500
Women's singles	£353,000
Men's doubles *	£160,810							—
Women's doubles *	£139,040							—
Mixed doubles *	£68,280							—

_{* per team}

Champions

Seniors

Men's singles

Template:Flagicon Richard Krajicek defeated Template:Flagicon 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

Template:Flagicon Steffi Graf defeated Template:Flagicon 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

Template:Flagicon Todd Woodbridge / Template:Flagicon Mark Woodforde defeated Template:Flagicon Byron Black / Template:Flagicon 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

Template:Flagicon Martina Hingis / Template:Flagicon Helena Suková defeated Template:Flagicon Meredith McGrath / Template:Flagicon 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

Template:Flagicon Cyril Suk / Template:Flagicon Helena Suková defeated Template:Flagicon Mark Woodforde / Template:Flagicon 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

Template:Flagicon Vladimir Voltchkov defeated Template:Flagicon Ivan Ljubičić, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3

Girls' singles

Template:Flagicon Amélie Mauresmo defeated Template:Flagicon Magüi Serna, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4

Boys' doubles

Template:Flagicon Daniele Bracciali / Template:Flagicon Jocelyn Robichaud defeated Template:Flagicon Damien Roberts / Template:Flagicon Wesley Whitehouse, 6–2, 6–4

Girls' doubles

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

Invitation

Gentlemen's invitation doubles

Template:Flagicon Wojciech Fibak / Template:Flagicon Tim Wilkison defeated Template:Flagicon Pavel Složil / Template:Flagicon Tomáš Šmíd, 6–2, 5–7, 6–1

Ladies' invitation doubles

Template:Flagicon Jo Durie / Template:Flagicon Anne Smith defeated Template:Flagicon Mima Jaušovec / Template:Flagicon Yvonne Vermaak, 6–3, 6–2

Senior gentlemen's invitation doubles

Template:Flagicon John Alexander / Template:Flagicon Phil Dent defeated Template:Flagicon Marty Riessen / Template:Flagicon Sherwood Stewart, 7–6, 6–2

Singles seeds

Men's singles

1. Template:Flagicon Pete Sampras (quarterfinals, lost to Richard Krajicek)
2. Template:Flagicon Boris Becker (third round, lost to Neville Godwin)
3. Template:Flagicon Andre Agassi (first round, lost to Doug Flach)
4. Template:Flagicon Goran Ivanišević (quarterfinals, lost to Jason Stoltenberg)
5. Template:Flagicon Yevgeny Kafelnikov (first round, lost to Tim Henman)
6. Template:Flagicon Michael Chang (first round, lost to Albert Costa)
7. Template:Flagicon Thomas Muster (withdrew before the tournament began)
8. Template:Flagicon Jim Courier (first round, lost to Jonathan Stark)
9. Template:Flagicon Thomas Enqvist (second round, lost to MaliVai Washington)
10. Template:Flagicon Michael Stich (fourth round, lost to Richard Krajicek)
11. Template:Flagicon Wayne Ferreira (third round, lost to Magnus Gustafsson)
12. Template:Flagicon Stefan Edberg (second round, lost to Mikael Tillström)
13. Template:Flagicon Todd Martin (semifinals, lost to MaliVai Washington)
14. Template:Flagicon Marc Rosset (third round, lost to Pat Rafter)
15. Template:Flagicon Arnaud Boetsch (first round, lost to Alex Rădulescu)
16. Template:Flagicon Cédric Pioline (fourth round, lost to Pete Sampras)
17. Template:Flagicon Richard Krajicek (champion)

Women's singles

1. Template:Flagicon Steffi Graf (champion)
2. Template:Flagicon Monica Seles (second round, lost to Katarína Studeníková)
3. Template:Flagicon Conchita Martínez (quarterfinals, lost to Kimiko Date)
4. Template:Flagicon Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (final, lost to Steffi Graf)
5. Template:Flagicon Anke Huber (third round, lost to Ai Sugiyama)
6. Template:Flagicon Jana Novotná (quarterfinals, lost to Steffi Graf)
7. Template:Flagicon Chanda Rubin (withdrew before the tournament began)
8. Template:Flagicon Lindsay Davenport (second round, lost to Larisa Neiland)
9. Template:Flagicon Mary Joe Fernández (quarterfinals, lost to Meredith McGrath)
10. Template:Flagicon Magdalena Maleeva (second round, lost to Nathalie Tauziat)
11. Template:Flagicon Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (third round, lost to Sabine Appelmans)
12. Template:Flagicon Kimiko Date (semifinals, lost to Steffi Graf)
13. Template:Flagicon Mary Pierce (quarterfinals, lost to Kimiko Date)
14. Template:Flagicon Amanda Coetzer (second round, lost to Meredith McGrath)
15. Template:Flagicon Irina Spîrlea (second round, lost to Inés Gorrochategui)
16. Template:Flagicon Martina Hingis (fourth round, lost to Steffi Graf)
17. Template:Flagicon Karina Habšudová (first round, lost to Judith Wiesner)

External links

• Official Wimbledon Championships website