 Justine Henin-Hardenne finished the year as WTA world No. 1 for the second time in her career, though Amélie Mauresmo was named the Player of the Year. Henin-Hardenne won six tournaments during the season, including a major at the French Open, as well as the WTA Tour Championships; she also finished runner-up at the three other majors, the Australian Open, the Wimbledon Championships, and the US Open. Mauresmo won four tournaments during the season, including two majors at the Australian Open and the Wimbledon Championships. | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 30 December 2005 – 6 November 2006 |
| Edition | 36th |
| Tournaments | 61 |
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) WTA Championships WTA Tier I (10) WTA Tier II (15) WTA Tier III (17) WTA Tier IV (14) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most titles |  Justine Henin (6) |
| Most finals | Justine Henin (9) |
| Prize money leader | Justine Henin (US$4,204,810) |
| Points leader | Justine Henin (3,998) |
| Awards | |
| Player of the year |  Amélie Mauresmo |
| Doubles team of the year |  Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur |
| Most improved player of the year |  Jelena Janković |
| Newcomer of the year |  Agnieszka Radwańska |
| Comeback player of the year |  Martina Hingis |
← 2005 2007 → | |
The 2006 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was the 36th season since the founding of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 2, 2006, and concluded on November 12, 2006, after 61 events.
Justine Henin-Hardenne came out as the winner in a historic three-way battle for the No. 1 ranking at the season-ending WTA Tour Championships, beating out Sharapova and Mauresmo. The Belgian successfully defended her French Open title for her fifth Grand Slam title, and became the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1993 to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams and the WTA Tour Championships. Maria Sharapova won her second Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open, to add to her Wimbledon trophy from 2004. Amélie Mauresmo won her maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open after a controversial retirement from Henin-Hardenne in the final. However, she later backed it up by winning a rematch with Henin-Hardenne in the Wimbledon final. She was the number one player in the world from March until the final event of the season.
Martina Hingis also made a successful return to the Tour, beginning her comeback at the Gold Coast event in January. She finished the season at No. 6 in the world and won the Tier I title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.