1988 WTA Tour

1988 WTA Tour
Steffi Graf finished the year as world No. 1 for the second time in her career. She won eleven tournaments during the season, including all four majors at the Australian Open, the French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, and the US Open, to complete the Grand Slam. She also claimed the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics to complete the only Golden Slam in pedestrian tennis history.
Details
DurationNovember 30, 1987
– November 27, 1988
Edition16th
Tournaments63
CategoriesGrand Slam (4)
WTA Championships
Summer Olympics
WTA Category 6 (1)
WTA Category 5 (9)
WTA Category 4 (10)
WTA Category 3 (8)
WTA Category 2 (14)
WTA Category 1 (16)
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titlesWest Germany Steffi Graf (11)
Most tournament finalsWest Germany Steffi Graf (12)
Prize money leaderWest Germany Steffi Graf $1,378,128
Points leaderWest Germany Steffi Graf 325.78
Awards
Player of the yearWest Germany Steffi Graf
Doubles team of the yearUnited States Martina Navratilova
United States Pam Shriver
Most improved
player of the year
Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
Newcomer of the yearSoviet Union Natasha Zvereva
Comeback
player of the year
France Pascale Paradis
1987
1989

The 1988 WTA Tour was the 16th elite tour for professional women's tennis of the Women's International Tennis Association (WITA) for the 1988 season. The 1988 WTA Tour included the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WITA Tour Championships and the WTA Category 1-5 events.[1][2] ITF tournaments were not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.

The tour was governed by the Women's International Professional Tennis Council (WIPTC), a cooperation between WITA, ITF and recognized tournaments.[2] Philip Morris sponsored the tour under its Virginia Slims brand.[2]

Steffi Graf became the first singles player in history to win the Golden Slam by taking the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open singles titles, along with the Olympic gold medal. Graf's defeat by Pam Shriver in the semifinals of the Virginia Slims Championships deprived her of a Super Slam.[3]

  1. ^ Barrett, John (1988). World of Tennis 1988. London: Willow Books. ISBN 978-0002182690.
  2. ^ a b c "Rules and Regulations". Women's Tennis Association (WITA). 1988 – via University of California San Francisco (UCSF)'s Truth Tobacco Industry Documents.
  3. ^ Collins, Bud. The Bud Collins History of Tennis. New Chapter Press; 3rd ed. edition (15 Jan. 2016). ISBN 978-1937559380