| Score: | 6–3, 7–5 |
| Draw: | 128 (8 / 8) |
| Seeds: | 16 |
| Before Name: | Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles |
| After Name: | Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles |
See main article: 1996 Wimbledon Championships.
Defending champion Steffi Graf defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in a rematch of the previous year's final, 6–3, 7–5 to win the ladies' singles tennis title at the 1996 Wimbledon Championships. It was her seventh Wimbledon singles title and 20th major singles title overall.[1] It was also the second consecutive major final between the two women, with Graf winning the French Open crown over Sánchez Vicario a month earlier.
Kimiko Date reached the semifinals, the last time a Japanese woman would do so at a major until Naomi Osaka in 2018.
See also: 1 and 1. Steffi Graf (champion)
See also: 2 and 8. 
Monica Seles (second round)
See also: 3 and 3. 
Conchita Martínez (fourth round)
See also: 4 and 6. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (final)
See also: 5 and 7. Anke Huber (third round)
See also: 6 and 2. 
Jana Novotná (quarterfinals)
See also: 7. Chanda Rubin (withdrew)
See also: 8 and 4. Lindsay Davenport (second round)
See also: 9 and 7. Mary Joe Fernández (quarterfinals)
See also: 10 and 2. Magdalena Maleeva (second round)
See also: 11 and 6. Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (third round)
See also: 12 and 3. 
Kimiko Date (semifinals)
See also: 13 and 4. 
Mary Pierce (quarterfinals)
See also: 14 and 8. Amanda Coetzer (second round)
See also: 15 and 5. Irina Spîrlea (second round)
See also: 16 and 1. Martina Hingis (fourth round)
See also: 17 and 5. 
Karina Habšudová (first round)
Chanda Rubin withdrew due to injury. She was replaced in the draw by the highest-ranked non-seeded player Karina Habšudová, who became the #17 seed.
See main article: 1996 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles qualifying.