# 1996 Volvo Women's Open – Singles

Barbara Paulus was the defending champion but did not compete that year.
Ruxandra Dragomir won in the final 7–6, 6–4 against Tamarine Tanasugarn.

## Seeds

A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.
* Ruxandra Dragomir (champion)
* Shi-Ting Wang (second round)
* Florencia Labat (quarterfinals)
* Henrieta Nagyová (semifinals)
* Nana Miyagi (second round)
* Nancy Feber (first round)
* Janette Husárová (quarterfinals)
* Sung-Hee Park (second round)

## Draw
### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking
| First round | First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | R Dragomir | 0 | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Varmužová | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | R Dragomir | 3 | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | C Singer | 6 | 3 | 6 | | C Singer | 6 | 5 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | O Barabanschikova | 3 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | 1 | R Dragomir | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | M Saeki | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | M Saeki | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | T Križan | 3 | 5 | | | M Saeki | 4 | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | T Panova | 6 | 3 | 6 | Q | T Panova | 6 | 1 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | N Feber | 3 | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | R Dragomir | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| 3 | F Labat | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | D Chládková | 4 | 3 | | | | | |
| | J-Q Yi | 3 | 1 | | 3 | F Labat | 6 | 3 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | V Martinek | 2 | 7 | 1 | | A Glass | 3 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Glass | 6 | 5 | 6 | | | | | | 3 | F Labat | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | D Chládková | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | D Chládková | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Cenková | 5 | 4 | | | D Chládková | 3 | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L-L Chen | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | S-H Park | 6 | 5 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | S-H Park | 6 | 3 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Ruxandra Dragomir | 7 | 6 |
| 7 | J Husárová | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Tamarine Tanasugarn | 6 | 4 |
| WC | B Sangaram | 3 | 4 | | 7 | J Husárová | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| WC | P Suksamran | 2 | 2 | | | A Gerši | 4 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Gerši | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | 7 | J Husárová | 4 | 1 | r | | | | | | | | | |
| | C Cristea | 6 | 2 | 6 | | | | | | 4 | H Nagyová | 6 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | S Obata | 4 | 6 | 0 | | C Cristea | 4 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | K Nagatsuka | 5 | 3 | | 4 | H Nagyová | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | H Nagyová | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | H Nagyová | 6 | 5 | 0/r | | | | |
| 5 | N Miyagi | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | T Tanasugarn | 4 | 7 | 4 | | | | |
| Q | R Kuti-Kis | 1 | 5 | | 5 | N Miyagi | 2 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | T Tanasugarn | 6 | 6 | | | T Tanasugarn | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Q | H Inoue | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | T Tanasugarn | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Y Yoshida | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | Y Yoshida | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | L Golarsa | 3 | 3 | | | Y Yoshida | 6 | 1 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | A Smashnova | 5 | 2 | | 2 | S-T Wang | 3 | 6 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | S-T Wang | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |