 Martina Hingis finished the year asworld No. 1 for the first time in her career, becoming the youngest woman to do so. She won twelve tournaments during the season, including threemajors at theAustralian Open, theWimbledon Championships, and theUS Open. She also won threeTier I events and finished runner-up at the fourth major, theFrench Open. | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | December 30, 1996 – November 24, 1997 |
| Edition | 27th |
| Tournaments | 51 |
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) WTA Championships WTA Tier I (9) WTA Tier II (15) WTA Tier III (11) WTA Tier IV (11) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most titles |  Martina Hingis (12) |
| Most finals | Martina Hingis (13) |
| Prize money leader | Martina Hingis (US$3,400,196) |
| Points leader | Martina Hingis (6,264) |
| Awards | |
| Player of the year | Martina Hingis |
| Doubles team of the year |  Gigi Fernández Natasha Zvereva |
| Most improved player of the year |  Amanda Coetzer |
| Newcomer of the year | Venus Williams |
| Comeback player of the year |  Mary Pierce |
←1996 1998 → | |
TheWTA Tour is the elite tour for professional women'stennis organised by theWomen's Tennis Association (WTA). The WTA Tour includes the fourGrand Slam tournaments, theWTA Tour Championships and theWTA Tier I, Tier II, Tier III and Tier IV events. ITF tournaments are not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.
The table below shows the 1997 WTA Tour schedule.
| Grand Slam events |
| Year-end championships |
| WTA Tier I tournamentss |
| WTA Tier II events |
| WTA Tier III events |
| WTA Tier IV events |
| Team events |
List of players and titles won, last name alphabetically:
Martina Hingis – Sydney,Australian Open, Tokyo (Tier I), Paris, Miami, Hilton Head,Wimbledon, Stanford, San Diego,US Open, Filderstadt, Philadelphia (12)Lindsay Davenport – Oklahoma City, Indian Wells, Amelia Island, Atlanta, Zurich, Chicago (6)
Jana Novotná – Madrid, Leipzig, Moscow,Season-Ending Championships (4)
Iva Majoli – Hanover, Hamburg,French Open (3)Monica Seles – Los Angeles, Toronto, Tokyo (Tier II) (3)Amanda Coetzer – Budapest, Luxembourg (2)
Dominique Van Roost – Hobart, Surabaya (2)
Ruxandra Dragomir – Rosmalen (1)Mary Joe Fernández – Berlin (1)
Steffi Graf – Strasbourg (1)Joannette Kruger – Prague (1)
Elena Likhovtseva – Hope Island (1)Mirjana Lučić – Bol (1)
Marion Maruska – Auckland (1)
Henrieta Nagyová – Pattaya (1)Barbara Paulus – Warsaw (1)Mary Pierce – Rome (1)
Virginia Ruano Pascual – Cardiff (1)Chanda Rubin – Linz (1)
Naoko Sawamatsu – Jakarta (1)Barbara Schett – Maria Lankowitz (1)
Brenda Schultz-McCarthy – Quebec City (1)Ai Sugiyama – Tokyo (Tier III)Nathalie Tauziat – Birmingham (1)Sandrine Testud – Palermo (1)The following players won their first title:
Marion Maruska – AucklandChanda Rubin – LinzAi Sugiyama – Tokyo (Tier III)Mirjana Lučić – BolVirginia Ruano Pascual – CardiffSandrine Testud – PalermoList of titles won by country:
Switzerland 12 – Sydney,Australian Open, Tokyo (Tier I), Paris, Miami, Hilton Head,Wimbledon, Stanford, San Diego,US Open, Filderstadt, Philadelphia USA 11 – Linz, Oklahoma City, Indian Wells, Amelia Island, Berlin, Los Angeles, Toronto, Atlanta, Tokyo (Tier II), Zurich, Chicago Croatia 4 – Hanover, Hamburg, Bol,French Open Czech Republic 4 – Madrid, Leipzig, Moscow,Season-Ending Championships Austria 3 – Auckland, Warsaw, Maria Lankowitz France 3 – Rome, Birmingham, Palermo South Africa 3 – Budapest, Prague, Luxembourg Belgium 2 – Hobart, Surabaya 2 – Tokyo (Tier III), Jakarta 1 – Strasbourg Russia 1 – Hope Island Netherlands 1 – Quebec City Romania 1 – Rosmalen Slovakia 1 – Pattaya 1 – CardiffBelow are the 1997 WTA year-end rankings in both singles and doubles competition:
