1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series

The 1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series^[1] was the 14th season since the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on March 24, 1986, and concluded in December, 1986 after 41 events. The season was abbreviated in order to return the tour to a calendar year basis.

1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series

Martina Navratilova in 2011. She won the most tournaments that year in this series.
Details
Duration	March 24 – November 24, 1986
Edition	16th
Tournaments	41
Categories	Grand Slam (3) WTA Championships Tour Events (37)
Achievements (singles)
Most tournament titles	Martina Navratilova (9)
Most tournament finals	Martina Navratilova (11)
Prize money leader	Martina Navratilova $1,905,841
Points leader	Martina Navratilova 280.4807
Awards
Player of the year	Martina Navratilova
Doubles team of the year	Martina Navratilova  Pam Shriver
Most improved player of the year	Steffi Graf
Newcomer of the year	Stephanie Rehe
← 1985 1987 →

The Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). It was held in place of the WTA Tour from 1983 until 1987 and featured tournaments that had previously been part of the Toyota Series and the Avon Series. It included the four Grand Slam tournaments and a series of other events. ITF tournaments were not part of the tour, although they awarded points for the WTA World Ranking. No Australian Open was held during 1986 due to the tournament start date being moved from November to January.

Schedule

The table below shows the 1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series schedule.

March

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
24 Mar	Virginia Slims of Arizona Phoenix, United States $75,000 – Hard (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Beth Herr 6–0, 3–6, 7–5	Ann Henricksson	Claudia Porwik   Peanut Louie	Camille Benjamin   Hu Na   Jennifer Mundel   Tina Mochizuki
		Susan Mascarin   Betsy Nagelsen 6–4, 5–7, 6–4	Alycia Moulton  Linda Gates
	Bridgestone Doubles Championships Nashville, United States $175,000 – Carpet (i) – 8D Doubles	Barbara Potter   Pam Shriver 6–4, 6–3	Kathy Jordan  Elizabeth Smylie	Mandlíková /   Turnbull   Parkhomenko /   Savchenko	Fairbank /   Reynolds   Piatek /   White   Burgin /   Walsh   Fernández /   White
31 Mar	Tournament of Champions Marco Island, United States $150,000 – Clay – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Chris Evert-Lloyd 6–2, 6–4	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Janine Tremelling   Bonnie Gadusek	Gabriela Sabatini  Pat Medrado  Andrea Temesvári  Kathy Rinaldi
		Martina Navratilova   Andrea Temesvári 7–5, 6–2	Elise Burgin  Kathy Jordan

April

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
7 Apr	Family Circle Cup Hilton Head Island, United States $200,000 – Clay – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Steffi Graf 6–4, 7–5	Chris Evert-Lloyd	Stephanie Rehe  Hana Mandlíková	Helena Suková  Sabrina Goleš  Manuela Maleeva  Gabriela Sabatini
		Chris Evert-Lloyd  Anne White 6–3, 6–3	Steffi Graf  Catherine Tanvier
14 Apr	Sunkist WITA Championships Amelia Island, United States $275,000 – Clay – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Steffi Graf 6–4, 5–7, 7–6^(7–3)	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch	Kathy Rinaldi  Gabriela Sabatini	Laura Gildemeister  Helena Suková  Manuela Maleeva  Angelikí Kanellopoúlou
		Claudia Kohde-Kilsch  Helena Suková 6–2, 5–7, 7–6^(9–7)	Gabriela Sabatini  Catherine Tanvier
21 Apr	Wild Dunes Charleston, United States $75,000 – Clay – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Elise Burgin 6–1, 6–3	Tine Scheuer-Larsen	Laura Gildemeister  Catherine Tanvier	Neige Dias  Susan Mascarin  Debbie Spence  Lilian Drescher
		Sandra Cecchini  Sabrina Goleš 4–6, 6–0, 6–3	Laura Gildemeister  Marcela Skuherská
27 Apr	U.S. Clay Court Championships Indianapolis, United States $200,000 – Clay – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Steffi Graf 2–6, 7–6^(7–5), 6–4	Gabriela Sabatini	Mercedes Paz   Manuela Maleeva	Terry Phelps   Melissa Gurney   Robin White  Regina Maršíková
		Steffi Graf  Gabriela Sabatini 6–2, 6–0	Gigi Fernández  Robin White

May

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
5 May	Virginia Slims of Houston Houston, United States $150,000 – Clay (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Chris Evert-Lloyd 6–4, 2–6, 6–4	Kathy Rinaldi	Pam Casale   Laura Gildemeister	Kate Gompert   Wendy White   Zina Garrison   Wendy Turnbull
		Chris Evert-Lloyd   Wendy Turnbull 6–2, 6–4	Elise Burgin   JoAnne Russell
	Barcelona Open Barcelona, Spain $50,000 – Clay – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Petra Huber 7–6^(7–4), 6–0	Laura Garrone	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario   Pat Medrado	Nathalie Herreman|  Mercedes Paz   Carina Karlsson   Isabelle Demongeot
		Iva Budařová   Catherine Tanvier 6–2, 6–1	Nathalie Herreman   Corrinne Vanier
12 May	German Open West Berlin, West Germany $150,000 – Clay – 56S/29D Singles – Doubles	Steffi Graf 6–2, 6–3	Martina Navratilova	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Hana Mandlíková	Jo Durie   Petra Huber   Bettina Bunge   Andrea Temesvári
		Steffi Graf   Helena Suková 7–5, 6–2	Martina Navratilova   Andrea Temesvári
19 May	European Open Lugano, Switzerland $100,000 – Clay – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Raffaella Reggi 5–7, 6–3, 7–6^(8–6)	Manuela Maleeva	Sabrina Goleš   Bettina Bunge	Angelikí Kanellopoúlou   Helen Kelesi   Terry Phelps   Mary Joe Fernández
		Elise Burgin   Betsy Nagelsen 6–2, 6–3	Jenny Byrne   Janine Thompson
26 May	French Open Paris, France Grand Slam $1,150,000 – Clay – 128S/64Q/64D/64X Singles – Doubles – Mixed doubles	Chris Evert-Lloyd 2–6, 6–3, 6–3	Martina Navratilova	Hana Mandlíková   Helena Suková	Kathy Rinaldi   Mary Joe Fernández   Steffi Graf   Carling Bassett
		Martina Navratilova   Andrea Temesvári 6–1, 6–2	Steffi Graf   Gabriela Sabatini
		Kathy Jordan   Ken Flach 3–6, 7–6^(7–3), 6–3	Rosalyn Fairbank   Mark Edmondson

June

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
9 Jun	Edgbaston Cup Birmingham, Great Britain $125,000 – Grass – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Pam Shriver 6–2, 7–6^(7–0)	Manuela Maleeva	Larisa Savchenko|  Kathy Rinaldi	Etsuko Inoue   Ann Henricksson   Alycia Moulton   Molly Van Nostrand
		Elise Burgin   Rosalyn Fairbank 6–2, 6–4	Elizabeth Smylie   Wendy Turnbull
16 Jun	Pilkington Glass Championships Eastbourne, Great Britain $200,000 – Grass – 64S/32D Singles – Doubles	Martina Navratilova 3–6, 6–3, 6–4	Helena Suková	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Robin White	Etsuko Inoue   Zina Garrison   Larisa Savchenko   Gabriela Sabatini
		Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver 6–2, 6–4	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková
23 Jun	Wimbledon Championships London, Great Britain Grand Slam $1,306,690 – Grass – 128S/64Q/64D/64X Singles – Doubles – Mixed doubles	Martina Navratilova 7–6^(7–1), 6–3	Hana Mandlíková	Gabriela Sabatini   Chris Evert-Lloyd	Bettina Bunge   Catarina Lindqvist   Lori McNeil   Helena Suková
		Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver 6–1, 6–3	Hana Mandlíková   Wendy Turnbull
		Kathy Jordan   Ken Flach 6–3, 7–6^(9–7)	Martina Navratilova   Heinz Günthardt

July

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
7 Jul	Ellesse Grand Prix Perugia, Italy $75,000 – Clay – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Nathalie Herreman 6–2, 6–4	Csilla Bartos-Cserepy	Sabrina Goleš   Laura Garrone	Isabel Cueto   Ivanna Madruga-Osses   Lorenza Jachia   Bettina Fulco
		Carin Bakkum   Nicole Muns-Jagerman 6–4, 6–4	Csilla Bartos-Cserepy|  Amy Holton
14 Jul	Virginia Slims of Newport Newport, United States $150,000 – Grass – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Pam Shriver 6–4, 6–2	Lori McNeil	Cammy Macgregor   Anne White	Cláudia Monteiro   Wendy White   Adriana Villagrán   Terry Holladay
		Terry Holladay   Heather Ludloff 6–1, 6–7^(4–7), 6–3	Cammy MacGregor   Gretchen Magers
	Elektra Cup Bregenz, Austria $50,000 – Clay – 32S/16D/32Q Singles – Doubles	Sandra Cecchini 6–4, 6–0	Mariana Pérez Roldán	Patricia Tarabini   Tine Scheuer-Larsen	Isabel Cueto   Barbara Paulus   Olga Votavová   Gabriela Dinu
		Petra Huber   Petra Keppeler 6–2, 6–4	Sabrina Goleš   Tine Scheuer-Larsen
21 Jul	Federation Cup Prague, Czechoslovakia Team event Clay	United States 2–1	Czechoslovakia	Argentina   West Germany	Australia   Austria   Bulgaria   Italy
	North Face Open Berkeley Berkeley, United States $50,000 – Hard – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Melissa Gurney 6–1, 6–3	Barbara Gerken	Beverly Bowes-Hackney   Elly Hakami	Monica Reinach   Monique Javer   Kris Kinney   Camille Benjamin
		Beth Herr   Alycia Moulton 6–1, 6–2	Amy Holton   Elna Reinach
28 Jul	Virginia Slims of San Diego San Diego, United States $75,000 – Hard – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Melissa Gurney 6–2, 6–4	Stephanie Rehe	Kate Gompert   Caroline Kuhlman	Kathy Jordan   Betsy Nagelsen   Dinky Van Rensburg   Debbie Spence
		Beth Herr   Alycia Moulton 5–7, 6–2, 6–4	Elise Burgin   Rosalyn Fairbank

August

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
4 Aug	Player's Canadian Open Montreal, Canada $250,000 – Hard – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Helena Suková 6–2, 7–5	Pam Shriver	Rosalyn Fairbank   Zina Garrison	Raffaella Reggi   Marianne Werdel   Catarina Lindqvist   Kathy Jordan
		Zina Garrison   Gabriela Sabatini 7–6^(7–2), 5–7, 6–4	Pam Shriver   Helena Suková
11 Aug	Virginia Slims of Los Angeles Manhattan Beach, United States $250,000 – Hard – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Martina Navratilova 7–6^(7–5), 6–3	Chris Evert-Lloyd	Helena Suková   Pam Shriver	Zina Garrison   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Gabriela Sabatini   Manuela Maleeva
		Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver 6–4, 6–3	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková
18 Aug	United Jersey Bank Classic Mahwah, United States $150,000 – Hard – 56S/32D Singles – Doubles	Steffi Graf 7–5, 6–1	Molly Van Nostrand	Jo Durie   Monica Reinach	Isabelle Demongeot   Sara Gomer   Regina Maršíková   Helena Suková
		Betsy Nagelsen   Elizabeth Smylie 7–6^(7–4), 6–3	Steffi Graf   Helena Suková
25 Aug	US Open New York City, United States Grand Slam $1,400,000 – Hard – 128S/64Q/64D/32X Singles – Doubles – Mixed doubles	Martina Navratilova 6–3, 6–2	Helena Suková	Steffi Graf   Chris Evert-Lloyd	Pam Shriver   Bonnie Gadusek   Wendy Turnbull   Manuela Maleeva
		Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver 6–4, 3–6, 6–3	Hana Mandlíková   Wendy Turnbull
		Raffaella Reggi   Sergio Casal 6–4, 6–4	Martina Navratilova   Peter Fleming

September

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
8 Sep	Pan Pacific Open Tokyo, Japan $250,000 – Carpet (i) – 28S/16D Singles	Steffi Graf 6–4, 6–2	Manuela Maleeva	Catherine Tanvier   Bettina Bunge	Wendy White   Katerina Maleeva   Robin White   Melissa Gurney
		Bettina Bunge   Steffi Graf 6–1, 6–7^(4–7), 6–2	Katerina Maleeva   Manuela Maleeva
15 Sep	Eckerd Open Tampa United States $150,000 – Hard – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Lori McNeil 2–6, 7–5, 6-2	Zina Garrison	Terry Phelps   Michelle Torres	Elise Burgin   Mary Joe Fernández   Marianne Werdel   Kate Gompert
		Elise Burgin   Rosalyn Fairbank 7–5, 6–2	Gigi Fernández   Kim Sands
	Athens Open Athens, Greece $75,000 – Clay – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Sylvia Hanika 7–5, 6–1	Angelikí Kanellopoúlou	Laura Garrone   Mariana Pérez Roldán	Isabel Cueto   Judith Polz   Lilian Drescher   Federica Bonsignori
		Isabel Cueto   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 4–6, 6–2, 6–4	Silke Meier   Wiltrud Probst
22 Sep	Virginia Slims of Tulsa Tulsa, United States $75,000 – Hard – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Lori McNeil 6–0, 6–1	Beth Herr	Dinky Van Rensburg   Mary Lou Piatek	Tina Mochizuki   Peanut Louie-Harper   Wendy White   Janine Tremelling
		Camille Benjamin   Dinky Van Rensburg 7–6^(7–4), 7–5	Svetlana Parkhomenko   Larisa Savchenko
29 Sep	Virginia Slims of New Orleans New Orleans, United States $150,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Martina Navratilova 6–1, 4–6, 6–2	Pam Shriver	Zina Garrison   Gabriela Sabatini	Terry Phelps   Wendy Turnbull   Laura Gildemeister   Kate Gompert
		Candy Reynolds   Anne Smith 6–3, 3–6, 6–3	Svetlana Parkhomenko   Larisa Savchenko
	Hewlett-Packard Trophy Hilversum, Netherlands $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Helena Suková 6–2, 7–5	Catherine Tanvier	Raffaella Reggi   Sylvia Hanika	Nathalie Herreman   Christiane Jolissaint   Nicole Muns-Jagerman   Nathalie Tauziat
		Kathy Jordan   Helena Suková 6–3, 3–6, 6–4	Tine Scheuer-Larsen   Catherine Tanvier

October

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
6 Oct	European Indoors Zürich, Switzerland $150,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Steffi Graf 4–6, 6–2, 6–4	Helena Suková	Eva Pfaff   Lori McNeil	Stephanie Rehe   Grace Kim   Laura Gildemeister   Zina Garrison
		Steffi Graf   Gabriela Sabatini 1–6, 6–4, 6–4	Lori McNeil   Alycia Moulton
	Taipei Women's Championships Taipei, Taiwan $50,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Patricia Hy 6–7^(6–8), 6–2, 6–3	Adriana Villagrán	Barbara Gerken   Wiltrud Probst	Helen Kelesi   Gigi Fernández   Hu Na   Susan Leo
		Lea Antonoplis   Barbara Gerken 6–1, 6–2	Gigi Fernández   Susan Leo
13 Oct	Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Filderstadt, West Germany $175,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Martina Navratilova 6–2, 6–3	Hana Mandlíková	Pam Shriver   Gabriela Sabatini	Catarina Lindqvist   Ann Henricksson   Robin White   Zina Garrison
		Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver 7–6^(7–5), 6–4	Zina Garrison   Gabriela Sabatini
	Suntory Japan Open Tokyo, Japan $50,000 – Hard – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Helen Kelesi 6–2, 6–2	Bettina Fulco	Masako Yanagi   Beth Herr	Gigi Fernández   Etsuko Inoue   Kumiko Okamoto   Neige Dias
		Susan Mascarin   Betsy Nagelsen 7–5, 5–7, 6–3	Lea Antonoplis   Barbara Gerken
20 Oct	Pretty Polly Classic Brighton, Great Britain $200,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Steffi Graf 6–3, 6–3	Catarina Lindqvist	Rosalyn Fairbank   Bettina Bunge	Robin White   Jo Durie   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková
		Steffi Graf   Helena Suková 6–4, 6–4	Tine Scheuer-Larsen   Catherine Tanvier
	Singapore Women's Open Singapore $50,000 – Hard (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Gigi Fernández 6–4, 2–6, 6–4	Mercedes Paz	Patricia Hy   Nicole Bradtke	Helen Kelesi   Maria Lindström   Akiko Kijimuta   Manon Bollegraf
		Anna-Maria Fernandez   Julie Richardson 6–3, 6–2	Sandy Collins   Sharon Walsh
27 Oct	Virginia Slims of Indianapolis Indianapolis, United States $75,000 – Hard – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Zina Garrison 6–3, 6–3	Melissa Gurney	Barbara Potter   Dianne Balestrat	Wendy Prausa   Susan Sloane-Lundy   Ginny Purdy   Kim Shaefer
		Zina Garrison   Lori McNeil 4–5, ret.	Candy Reynolds   Anne Smith

November

Week	Tournament	Champions	Runners-up	Semifinalists	Quarterfinalists
3 Nov	Virginia Slims of New England Worcester, United States $250,000 – Hard (i) – 32S/28D Singles – Doubles	Martina Navratilova 6–2, 6–2	Hana Mandlíková	Pam Shriver   Bettina Bunge	Gabriela Sabatini   Alycia Moulton   Helena Suková   Lori McNeil
		Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver 6–3, 6–1	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková
	Virginia Slims of Arkansas Little Rock, United States $75,000 – Carpet (i) – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Kathy Rinaldi 6–4, 6–7^(7–9), 6–0	Natasha Zvereva	Silke Meier   Neige Dias	Marianne Werdel   Elizabeth Minter   Beth Herr   Ann Henricksson
		Svetlana Parkhomenko   Larisa Savchenko 6–2, 1–6, 6–1	Iva Budařová   Beth Herr
10 Nov	Virginia Slims of Chicago Chicago, United States $150,000 – Carpet (i) – 28S/14D Singles – Doubles	Martina Navratilova 7–5, 7–5	Hana Mandlíková	Zina Garrison   Pam Shriver	Gabriela Sabatini   Katerina Maleeva   Kathy Rinaldi   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch
		Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková 6–7^(5–7), 7–6^(7–5), 6–3	Steffi Graf   Gabriela Sabatini
	Honda Classic San Juan, Puerto Rico $75,000 – Hard – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles	Raffaella Reggi 7–6^(7–4), 4–6, 6–3	Sabrina Goleš	Gigi Fernández   Marianne Werdel	Lori McNeil   Silke Meier   Camille Benjamin   Lilian Drescher
		Lori McNeil   Mercedes Paz 6–2, 3–6, 6–4	Gigi Fernández   Robin White
17 Nov	Virginia Slims Championships New York City, United States $500,000 – Carpet (i) – 16S/8D Singles – Doubles	Martina Navratilova 7–6^(8–6), 6–3, 6–2	Steffi Graf	Pam Shriver   Helena Suková	Bettina Bunge   Hana Mandlíková   Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Manuela Maleeva
		Martina Navratilova   Pam Shriver 7–6^(7–1), 6–3	Claudia Kohde-Kilsch   Helena Suková

Statistical Information

Titles won by player

February 27, 2023